Symptomatic Rathke's Cleft Cyst

Abstract

Zain Alabedeen B. Jamjoom, MD; Hassan Nabeel Tawfik, MD, PhD;Abdulhakim B. Jamjoom, FRCS Ed (SN); Abdul-Kader Daif, MDA rare case of symptomatic Rathke's cleft cyst ina 26-year-old female is reported. The clinical andradiological features of this lesion are describedwith emphasis on the differential diagnosisbetween Rathke's cleft cyst andcraniopharyn­gIOma.Rathke's cleft cysts present a common inciden­tal intrasellar autopsy finding occurring in 13% to22% of randomly examined pituitary glands [1].These lesions rarely, however, enlarge sufficientlyenough to cause compression of adjacent neuralstructures. Although to date, approximately 155cases of symptomatic Rathke's cleft cysts havebeen reported in the pertinent literature [2]; thecondition continues to be largely unknown toclinicians.The purpose of this case report is to draw atten­tion to this pathological entity which should beconsidered in the differential diagnosis of cysticlesions in the sellar area. To the best of our knowl­edge, this is the first case of symptomatic Rathke'scleft cyst to be reported from Saudi Arabia.Case ReportThis 26-year-old Filipino female dietitian pre­sented to the Neurosurgical Division of the KingKhalid University Hospital with a two month his­tory of constant headaches which were associatedwith nausea and non-projectile vomiting. Therewere no visual disturbances and apart fromoligomenorrhea since puberty, her past medical