Extraordinary Presentations of Pediatric Pituitary Adenoma

Abstract

Background Pediatric pituitary adenomas are rare tumors; when encountered, they characteristically present with headaches, visual disturbances, and frequent endocrinopathies. However, they have a penchant for unusual presentations, and due to their relative rarity in the pediatric population, are liable to be clinically misdiagnosed. Correspondingly, awareness of unusual presentations is an important educational point for skull base surgeons, and essential for ensuring early diagnosis and expedited treatment of this vulnerable patient population. We report three highly atypical cases of pediatric pituitary adenomas, both to illustrate the significant potential of the unexpected, and to demonstrate how these difficult-to-manage tumors provide a host of management challenges from early diagnosis, through protracted cycles of recurrent disease treatment.