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Updated: Oct 27, 2025

Endoscopic Endonasal Trans-sphenoidal Approach: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Pituitary Adenomas
Published on: January 17, 2018
41-year-old male with a pituitary mass
Wenjuan Wen1, Leiming Wang2, Mengyou Li3
1Department of Pathology, Liaocheng People's Hospital, Liaocheng, China.
Insights
This study identifies a sellar lesion with two distinct cell types. One component is CD20-positive, characteristic of B-cell lymphoma, while the other expresses Pit-1 and CK18, suggesting a pituitary origin.
Area of Science:
- Neuro-oncology
- Endocrinology
- Pathology
Background:
- Sellar region lesions can present diagnostic challenges, requiring detailed histopathological analysis.
- Distinguishing between primary pituitary tumors and other sellar masses is crucial for appropriate management.
Observation:
- Magnetic resonance imaging revealed an irregular sellar lesion.
- Histological examination showed two distinct cell populations: one with features of lymphoma (CD20+) and another with characteristics of pituitary cells (Pit-1+, CK18+).
Findings:
- The co-existence of a CD20-positive lymphoid component and a Pit-1/CK18-positive epithelial component within a sellar lesion was identified.
- Immunohistochemistry confirmed the dual nature of the tumor, highlighting specific markers for each cell type.
Implications:
- This case highlights a rare biphenotypic or collision tumor in the sellar region.
- Accurate diagnosis is essential for guiding treatment strategies and predicting patient outcomes for sellar masses.
Abstract:
Cranial coronal T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging with contrast enhancement showed a sellar irregular lesion (Figure A). Hematoxylin and eosin staining showed two different morphologies. The majority of tumor cells had medium-sized to large cells with a high nucleus to cytoplasm ratio, vesicular nuclei with prominent nucleoli, and poor adhesion (Figure B), which revealed positive expression of CD20 by Immunohistochemistry (Figure C). The other component showed abundant cytoplasm, spindle-like to ovoid nucleus and rare mitotic figures (Figure D). These tumor cells were positive for Pit-1 (Figure E) and perinuclear punctated structures immunopositive for CK18 (Figure F).
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