[Rathke's cleft cyst--report of three cases]

Three cases of symptomatic Rathkes' cleft cyst are described. Case 1. A 51-year-old man was admitted to the hospital for evaluation of intermittent headache, in April, 1985. He was neurologically free, but skull films disclosed a ballooning of the sella with thinning of the dorsum sellae. CT scan showed enlargement of the sella, but no abnormal density area in the sellar region. MRI revealed a round mass with high signal intensity located just posteriorly to the pituitary body. By a transsphenoidal approach, a thin-walled cyst was found at the posterior portion of the sella. Turbid mucinous fluid and the capsule of the cyst were subtotally removed. Histologic section of the specimen demonstrated that its wall was composed of a loose fibrous tissue lined by a single layer of ciliated cuboidal epithelium containing some goblet cells. Electron microscopy showed ciliated cuboidal cells, cells with microvilli, cells with light and large granules, and basal cells abutting on the basal lamina. Case 2. A 33-year-old female was referred to the hospital with complaints of severe headache and decreased visual acuity 0.02 in the left and 0.1 in the right, in July, 1985. Visual field examination revealed bitemporal hemianopsia. She had amenorrhea, galactorrhea and polyuria. CT scan and metrizamide CT cisternography detected a low density mass in the suprasellar region. Endocrinological studies disclosed hyperprolactinemia with partial hypopituitarism. She had a right frontal craniotomy and a suprasellar cyst was subtotally removed. Histologically, a cystic wall was lined by pseudostratified columnar epithelium supported by a loose fibrous tissue.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)