Entirely suprasellar symptomatic Rathke's cleft cyst

Two rare cases of entirely suprasellar Rathke's cleft cyst were reported. Case 1. A 62-year-old man was admitted to our hospital on the 14th of January, 1988, complaining of headache and diplopia. A plain skull x-ray showed the sella turcica was normal. CT scan and MRI demonstrated a lesion mass located entirely in the suprasellar cistern. Right frontotemporal craniotomy was performed, and the cyst wall was resected subtotally. Microscopic sections of cyst wall showed ciliated single layer with focal stratified epithelium. Case 2. A 51-year-old man was hospitalized complaining of visual impairment in the left eye. Endocrinological examination showed no abnormalities. CT and MRI demonstrated a lesion mass located entirely in the suprasellar region. Right frontotemporal craniotomy was performed. The mass was opened and a large amount of yellowish fluid was released. Histologically, the specimens were simple ciliated cuboidal epithelium. Postoperative courses of these patients were uneventful. The findings on CT and MRI of the cases located entirely in the suprasellar region were varied. The histopathogenesis and embryological pathogenesis of Rathke's cleft cyst in the literature, particularly the entirely suprasellar type, were discussed.     

Symptomatic Rathke's cleft cyst mimicking suprasellar arachnoid cyst

The authors report an atypical case of symptomatic entirely suprasellar Rathke's cleft cyst mimicking suprasellar arachnoid cyst. A 55-year-old male was introduced to our hospital complaining of bitemporal hemianopsia. CT and MRI demonstrated a cystic mass located entirely in the suprasellar cistern and to compress the optic nerve and mammillary body. The cystic wall was not enhanced in MRI. CT cisternography showed the suprasellar non-communicating cyst with cistern. The hormonal function was slightly disturbed by the pituitary compression. Under the diagnosis of suprasellar arachnoid cyst, a left front temporal craniotomy was performed to resect the suprasellar mass. The surgical specimen consisted ciliated epithelium and was diagnosed Rathke's cleft cyst. After operation, he recovered completely free.     

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)     

Symptomatic intraventricular arachnoid cyst in an elderly man

Summary A case of intraventricular arachnoid cyst in an elderly man is reported. A 63-year-old man developed a progressive gait disturbance over a five-year period. CT scan showed a large cyst in the left lateral ventricle which was negative to contrast enhancement. CT cisternography revealed gradual accumulation and more than 48 hours retention of contrast medium in the cyst. The patient underwent left frontal craniotomy, and the cyst wall was partially resected for histopathological examination. Although limit microscopic examination could not establish a diagnosis, arachnoid cyst was diagnosed by electron microscopic findings. Biochemical analysis did not detect any difference between cyst fluid and CSF obtained during surgery. It is suggested that a ball-valve mechanism caused progressive enlargement of the cyst and gradual development of symptoms in this elderly patient.     

A case of spontaneous rupture of a suprasellar cystic mass

The author reported a case of a spontaneous rupture of a suprasellar cystic tumor. A 67-year-old man complained of bitemporal homonymous hemianopsia. His visual acuity was 0.02 on the right side and 0.04 on the left side. Skull XP revealed no abnormal findings, but brain CT scan showed a cystic mass without calcification in the suprasellar region. Brain MRI at the same lesion site depicted a low-intensity mass on T1-weighted image without gadolinium enhancement, and a high-intensity mass on T2-weighted image. The patient was treated conservatively because of complications such as diabetes mellitus, cerebral infarction and old myocardiac infarction. MRI taken 5 years after the initial MRI revealed disappearance of the suprasellar cystic mass. However, the patient's neurological findings, including visual signs, revealed no deterioration. His physical and radiological findings had remained uneventful. In this report, we reviewed the literatures about spontaneous rupture of suprasellar cystic tumors. It was considered that in this case, according to the neurological, radiological and CSF findings, the suprasellar cystic mass might be a Rathke's cleft cyst or arachnoid cyst.     

Atypical computed tomographic features of meningioma: a case report

Diagnosis of intracranial meningiomas with computed tomography (CT) is usually easy. However, some authors have reported cases preoperatively misdiagnosed because of atypical computed tomographic features. We report a case of non-cystic meningioma presenting a ring enhanced mass lesion, with CT scan. A 48-year-old male was admitted to our hospital on January 5, 1987, because of progressive monoparesis of his left lower limb. This had continued for 1 1/2 years. Neurological examination revealed monoparesis, hypesthesia and decreased deep sensation of the left lower limb. X-ray films of the skull appeared normal. A CT scan demonstrated a ring-like high density mass attached to the falx in the right frontoparietal area with perifocal low density. The ring-like high density was irregularly increased with contrast enhancement. Right carotid angiograms showed a doughnut like tumor stain without meningeal blood supply. Brain scintigrams revealed a dense round hot lesion in the frontoparietal area at 5 minutes, and the hot lesion was still visualized after 90 minutes. We diagnosed a cystic parasagittal meningioma. A right frontoparietal craniotomy was performed, and total removal of the parasagittal tumor was made. The center of the tumor was very soft but it could not be said that it was not cystic. Histologically the tumor was a meningotheliomatous meningioma. The center of the tumor, which was very soft, was necrotic with arteriolar hyalinization. The meningioma cells survived around the patent vessels. These intact meningioma cells were scattered like islands in extensive necrosis. This is so called "oasis phenomenon" indicating that the necrosis of the tumor was caused by intratumoral ischemia.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Huge arachnoid cyst of the occipital cerebral convexity

A 68-year-old woman presented with a rare huge right occipital cystic lesion manifesting as progressive left hemiplegia. Cranial computed tomography revealed a 4 x 7 cm right occipital lobe thin-walled cyst with midline shift and compression of the ipsilateral ventricle. The patient underwent a single burr hole operation for cystography and delineation of the cyst anatomy, then a separate right parieto-occipital craniotomy with complete cyst evacuation, corticotomy, and ventriculostomy. The presumptive diagnosis was arachnoid cyst. The symptoms had completely resolved by 4 months after surgery with nearly normal neuroimaging appearance after 7 months. Cystography followed by craniotomy and ventriculostomy may be effective for supratentorial arachnoid cysts.     

Spontaneous disappearance of cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst: report of a case

A case of a cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst spontaneously disappeared is reported. A 1-year-and-11-month old boy was suffered from sudden onset of left facial palsy. CT scan demonstrated dilatation of left internal auditory canal and a cystic lesion in the left cerebellopontine angle. Neurological examination disclosed only left facial palsy and left hearing loss. There was no signs and symptoms of increased intracranial pressure. He was followed up by CT scan. Repeated CT scan showed non-enhanced cystic lesion, the attenuation value of which was similar to that of cerebrospinal fluid. The cyst expanded gradually, and the brain stem was severely compressed. Then operation was planned under the diagnosis of left cerebellopontine angle arachnoid cyst about 2 years after the onset. But CT scan performed before operation showed disappearance of the cyst. Without operation the patient was followed by CT scan. There is no recurrence of the cyst. Natural history of arachnoid cyst will be well understood with repeated CT scan.     

Interhemispheric arachnoid cyst; report of three cases]

Three operated cases of the interhemispheric arachnoid cyst were reported. Case 1: a 58-year-old female suffering from progressive right hemi-rigidity and gait disturbance for the past two years. Case 2: a 66-year-old female was admitted with chronic headache. MRI demonstrated a large interhemispheric cyst in these two patients. Case 3: a 6-month-old male had frequent episodes of tonic seizure. MRI demonstrated interhemispheric cyst and agenesis of the anterior part of corpus callosum. The resection of the cystic wall via the interhemispheric approach was performed for all cases. General convulsive seizure developed in the early stage following operation in case 1 and case 2, in spite of routine administration of prophylactic anticonvulsant. The seizures were well controlled thereafter. In all cases, the cyst disappeared on the follow up CT. Simple resection of cyst wall is effective in the surgical treatment of interhemispheric arachnoid cysts.     

Cyst formation of meningioma: report of two cases and review of literature

Cystic meningioma is rare and said to account for 1 to 2% of all types of meningioma. Here we report two cases of cystic meningioma. Case 1 is a 25-year-old man. He had suffered from sporadic epileptic seizure for about two years until the first CT was performed. It revealed a large cystic lesion at the right parietal region in touch with the midline structure. A nodular high density area was delineated in the contrast enhanced CT on the medial wall of the cyst. He showed no neurological abnormality at all. Case 2 is a 56-year-old female who had been complaining of memory disturbance, and an episode of sudden dizziness followed by a syncope that lasted for a few minutes. Neurological examination revealed slight right hemiparesis, right homonymous hemianopsia and left papilledema. A large cystic lesion was delineated at the temporal region in the plain CT, and no positively enhanced region could be found in the contrast enhanced CT. After surgical removal of the tumors, both cases were identified as cases of meningioma. They were diagnosed histopathologically as a fibroblastic meningioma and a meningotheliomatous meningioma respectively. The wall of the cyst consisted of the cortical surface per se in both cases. Preoperative diagnosis of such cases and the mechanism by which the cyst is formed were also discussed.     

Two cases of leiomyoma of the kidney]

Renal leiomyomas large enough to be clinically diagnosed are extremely rare. We review 30 cases of clinically diagnosed renal leiomyoma from the literature in Japan, including our 2 new cases. Case 1: In a 52-year-old man with no symptoms a renal mass was found accidentally on an ultrasonogram. CT scan showed a mass with a cystic area at the upper pole of the right kidney. Angiogram showed a hypovascular mass. Case 2: CT scan revealed a cystic mass and angiogram showed an avascular mass at the upper pole of the left kidney in a 19-year-old man having gross hematuria and left flank pain. Transperitoneal nephrectomy was done in both cases. Histologically each tumor was composed of monotonous proliferation of spindle shaped cells without atypia, which showed intense immunoreactivity for alpha-smooth muscle actin. The diagnosis of benign leiomyoma was made in each case. In a review of 30 cases, we found that renal leiomyomas occur most often in female (77%), between decades 2 and 5 of life (median: 46 years). On the angiogram it appears most often as an avascular or hypovascular mass. CT scan shows cystic or mixed solid/cystic or solid lesion, occasionally with calcification. Preoperative diagnosis is extremely difficult to be made. Histologically, fibroma, angiomyolipoma, congenital mesoblastic nephroma and leiomyosarcoma should be differentiated.     

A huge intraspinal teratocarcinoma associated with an arachnoid cyst in a child

The authors report a 11-year-old girl with a huge intraspinal malignant teratoma associated with spinal arachnoid cyst. At seven year of age, suprasellar tumor was diagnosed and the patient received radiation therapy for tumor bed with total dose of 4,225 rads. As the result, marked decrease of the size of tumor was seen by follow-up CT scan. Serum alphafetoprotein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) level were at 51ng/ml and 31IU/l when total dose of 2,000 rads were over, and they decreased to 3ng/ml and 6.6IU/l at the dose of 4,225 rads respectively. The histology of the suprasellar tumor was unverified. She was discharged without any neurological deficits. For next 24 months, she received intrathecal administration of Methotrexate by repeated lumber puncture in 14 times. She remained intact neurologically. At eleven years of age, four years later, she started complaining of the right leg pain. On the examination, hypesthesia in the L distribution and stiff neck with positive straight leg raising test were observed. Urinary and bowel function were intact. CT scan of the head revealed residual of the suprasellar tumor but the size of the tumor was unchanged. Myelography showed complete block at the level of L. Laminectomy at L was performed and brownish cyst was found in the intradural space. Aspiration of cyst content and cyst wall resection were carried out. Histology of the cyst membrane was arachnoid and spinal arachnoid cyst was diagnosed. The postoperative course was uneventful until 13th postoperative day, when acute progressive paraparesis and numbness of bilateral toes were seen.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Surgical management of symptomatic intrasellar arachnoid cysts--two case reports

Two patients with symptomatic intrasellar arachnoid cyst were successfully treated. A 67-year-old female with a cyst 20 mm in diameter developed headache and visual disturbance. She was treated by transsphenoidal surgery. A 59-year-old male with a cyst measuring 35 x 30 x 50 mm causing headache, visual disturbance, and deterioration of consciousness was managed by wide resection of the cyst wall via craniotomy. Postoperative courses in both patients were uneventful. Transsphenoidal surgery may be suitable for small to medium-sized cysts, although tight packing of the sella is mandatory to prevent leakage of cerebrospinal fluid. However, craniotomy is recommended for large intra- and suprasellar arachnoid cysts to avoid this complication, and to achieve sufficient communication between the cyst and the subarachnoid cistern.     

Thymoma arising in a thymic cyst.

We present a case of thymoma arising in the wall of the thymic cyst. A 77-year-old asymptomatic woman demonstrated an approximately 3.5 cm sized cystic mass in the left anterior mediastinum in the CT scan. The tumor was extirpated by a total thymectomy. Histologically, the cyst wall was lined by low cuboidal cells, but a markedly thickened wall was observed at the upper site of the mass, which was found to be thymoma. These findings may suggest that the thymoma originated from the wall of the thymic cyst.     

Recurrent intrasellar arachnoid cyst

A 48-year-old man presented with complaints of decreased visual acuity persisting for 6 weeks in December 1997. Neurological examination demonstrated defects in the superior bitemporal visual field and bilateral optic atrophy. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging showed an intrasellar cystic lesion. The cyst wall was excised via a transsphenoidal approach. The diagnosis was intrasellar arachnoid cyst. The sellar floor was reconstructed after packing fat in the sellar turcica. The visual complaint improved, but he was lost to follow up. Four years later, he was re-admitted complaining of decreased visual acuity. Superior bilateral field defects were found. MR imaging revealed recurrence of the intrasellar arachnoid cyst. The cyst wall was excised through a craniotomy. The visual acuity and the visual field defects gradually improved. Intrasellar arachnoid cyst may recur after transsphenoidal surgery, so long-term follow up is necessary after excision of the intrasellar cyst wall.     

Intraventricular arachnoid cyst appearing with attacks of orbital pain: case report and review of the literature

While there have been 5 cases of intraventricular arachnoid cyst published in the literature, the occurrence in the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle has not been reported. We report a case of intraventricular arachnoid cyst of the anterior horn causing attacks of orbital pain. A 30-year-old man was admitted with frequent attacks of orbital pain on his right side. Neurological examination revealed no abnormality. Plain CT showed a cystic dilatation of the anterior horn of the right lateral ventricle, and enhanced CT showed a deviation of the septal veins to the left side. T1-weighted MRI demonstrated a low-intensity mass in the anterior horn of the right lateral ventricle, and T2-weighted image demonstrated the mass as having high intensity. PEG in the sitting position showed no filling of air into the right lateral ventricle due to obstruction of the right foramen of Monro. The patient underwent an operation under a diagnosis of intraventricular benign cyst. The cyst wall was subtotally removed and the right foramen of Monro was opened. Histological examination of the specimen showed an arachnoid membrane with prolific collagen fibers. From an embryological point of view, the arachnoid membrane is derived from the arachnoid cell. We think intraventricular arachnoid cysts to originate from the remnants of the arachnoid cell on the tela choroidea or on the choroid plexus like intraventricular meningiomas.     

Four cases of cerebral venous angioma--with special reference to its surgical indication and CT diagnosis

Four cases of venous angioma, one cerebral and three in the cerebellum, are reported. Case 1. A 50-year-old woman who had a sudden attack of headache and disorientation was admitted to the Mitsui Memorial Hospital. Neurological examination revealed slight disorientation, mild motor aphasis and right hemiparesis. Plain CT scan on admission showed a left frontal hematoma. Left cerebral angiomas demonstrated a caput-Medusae-like lesion which consisted of numerous small veins and drained into one single enlarged vein. Enhanced CT scan taken 12 days after the attack demonstrated a linear enhancement next ot the hematoma. Left frontal craniotomy was performed, and the hematoma was evacuated. In the next step, coagulation and resection of the major part of the angioma was attempted. However, this caused significant swelling of the adjacent brain and the angioma had to be resected totally including intervening normal cerebral tissue. Postoperatively, the patient became worse with significant hemiparesis and severe motor aphasia. After intensive rehabilitation treatment, she recovered gradually and was discharged on foot with moderate speech disturbances. Histological examination revealed a typical venous angioma with hyalinization of vessel wall. Case 2. A 55-year-old woman with a 9 year history of vertigo and headache was admitted to our hospital because of sudden onset of numbness in her right lower limb. Enhanced CT scan revealed a small nodular high density lesion and an old hematoma in the right cerebellar hemisphere. Vertebral angiograms demonstrated a single abnormal vein with some small veins in the right cerebellum. Right suboccipital craniectomy was performed and the blood clot was removed. The abnormal veins were electro-coagulated. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged with no neurological deficit. Case 3. A 31-year-old man was admitted to our department with 9 month history of nausea and vertigo attack. Enhanced CT scan demonstrated a large nodular high density lesion in the left cerebellar hemisphere. Vertebral angiograms showed a typical caput-Medusae-like venous angioma. The patient had no evidence of hemorrhage and was discharged without surgery. Case 4. A 36-year-old man who had two attacks of nausea and headache was admitted to the Mitsui Memorial Hospital. Enhanced CT scan showed a linear high density lesion in the right cerebellar hemisphere. Vertebral angiograms disclosed a typical venous angioma in the right cerebellum. This patient also had no attack of bleeding and was discharged without operation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

A case of arachnoid cyst in the posterior fossa with lower cranial nerve palsy

We experienced a rare case of arachnoid cyst in the right cerebellomedullary cistern. A 59-year-old female was admitted to our clinic because of lower cranial nerve palsy (deviation of uvula to the left side, swallowing disturbance, curtain sign, hoarseness, atrophy of the right sternocleidomastoid muscle, and deviation of the tongue to the right side). MRI demonstrated a mass lesion compressed towards the medulla oblongata in the right cerebellomedullary cistern. MRI was very helpful as a diagnostic tool, since there is no bone object in the posterior fossa. Although by CT cisternography, the arachnoid cyst was thought to have a communication with the surrounding subarachnoid spaces, the cyst wall was removed because of its compressive symptoms on the lower cranial nerves. After the operation, the cyst shrank, and the clinical symptoms were reduced.     

Symptomatic intrasellar arachnoid cyst: case report

A case of a large symptomatic intrasellar arachnoid cyst with suprasellar extension is reported. A 53-year-old man was admitted because of decreased visual acuity. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a large intrasellar cyst extending into the suprasellar cistern, with compression of optic nerves. The intensity of the cyst was identical to that of the surrounding subarachnoid space on both T1-, T2-, and proton density-weighted images. Transsphenoidal surgery was performed, but subsequent refilling of the cyst required additional transcranial surgery. Analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid-like cystic fluid revealed high levels of protein and pituitary hormones. Histological study revealed that the cyst wall was composed of connective tissue and arachnoid cells, which were ultrastructurally characterized by a number of desmosomes. Diagnostic, surgical, and pathological features of intrasellar arachnoid cysts are discussed.     

Two cases of urachal cyst

Case 1: A lower abdominal large painful mass was recognized by palpation, CT scan and ultrasonography in a 64-year-old house wife. Urine cytology was negative. The mass at the dome of bladder was covered with normal epithelium cystoscopically. Aspiration cytology of the lower abdominal mass demonstrated no malignancy and total excision of urachal remnant with a portion of bladder wall was carried out. Histologically, the mass was an urachal cyst with granulomatous change infected with C group beta-streptococcus. Case 2: A 46 year-old male engineer complained of asymptomatic hematuria. Cystoscopic examination revealed a small bleeding lesion at the dome of bladder. Urine cytology was negative. CT scan and ultrasonography revealed a tiny cystic mass lesion with irregular density. Biopsy or aspiration cytology appeared difficult because of the size and localization of the mass. En bloc segmental resection of urachal remnant was carried out. Since intraoperative rapid histological examination of the specimen confirmed no malignancies, dissection of pelvic lymph node was not performed. Urachal cysts presented above were suspicious of malignant degeneration from findings of imaging examination. Either preoperative or intraoperative histological examination in such cases appears to be indispensable to avoid unnecessary extensive operation as well as to perform radical operation required for malignant lesions.