Intrasellar paraganglioma: a case report and review of the literature

Intrasellar paragangliomas are very rare lesions with only six previous cases described in the literature. We present a further case of intrasellar paraganglioma. The patient was a 52 yr-old man who developed two transient ischemic attacks. A CT scan showed an intra- and supra-sellar expanding lesion, which was regarded as a possible non-functioning pituitary macro-adenoma. Removal of the lesion was accomplished by transsphenoidal surgery. Histological examination was diagnostic of a paraganglioma. We review the literature and discuss pathological features and possible pathogenesis of sellar and parasellar paragangliomas, underlining the necessity to consider paraganglioma in the differential diagnosis of sellar lesions.