Sphenoid mucocele: an uncommon complication of a rare condition

Abstract

A 58-year-old white woman presented with sudden onset of diplopia, headache and vomiting with a history of tiredness and lethargy over the past four to six months. She had smooth, pale, hairless skin and on examination she was found to have left-sided third and sixth nerve palsy. Laboratory tests confirmed pan-anterior hypopituitarism. Computerized tomography scan of head and magnetic resonance imaging appearances were consistent with those of a sphenoid sinus mucocoele. Following adequate replacement with hydrocortisone and thyroxine she underwent sphenoid mucocoele drainage and endoscopic left sphenoethmoidectomy. Her symptoms were relieved over the next few days and she had a near-total recovery of ophthalmoplegia over the following three months. Pituitary function tests showed partial resolution of hypopituitarism with recovery of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and hydrocortisone therapy was withdrawn, but she continued to require thyroxine.