A rare case of pituicytoma-related hypercortisolism in a patient with Cushing syndrome—case report

Abstract

Pituicytoma is a low-grade glioma arising from the pituicytes in the neurohypophysis located in the posterior lobe of the pituitary or the pituitary stalk (Chang et al. 2018; Schmalisch et al. 2010). It occurs in adulthood and has a higher male predilection. It can be clinically misdiagnosed as a pituitary adenoma (Chang et al. 2018; Guo et al. 2016). Hormonal changes in pituicytoma are unusual and triggered mainly by the tumor's mass effect. However, there have been recent reports of elevated hormonal levels in such patients initially considered to have a functioning pituitary adenoma (Marco Del Pont et al. 2019). Literature review as of 2019 reported only 6 cases of pituicytoma with elevated hormonal levels in patients who presented with Cushing's disease (Li et al. 2019). The distinction, however, can be challenging. It is unclear whether the pituicytoma has endocrine secretory influence or causes a normal pituitary gland to reach hypersecretory status