IMAGING DIAGNOSIS: PITUITARY APOPLEXY IN A CAT
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Alastair Foote; Elsa Beltran; Lara Matiasek; Ruth Dennis; Luisa De Risio
- Source
- Veterinary Radiology & Ultrasound. 53:417-419
- Subject
- Pituitary gland
Pathology
medicine.medical_specialty
General Veterinary
Blindness
medicine.diagnostic_test
business.industry
Pituitary tumors
Pituitary apoplexy
Optic chiasm
Magnetic resonance imaging
medicine.disease
Lesion
medicine.anatomical_structure
medicine
medicine.symptom
business
Depression (differential diagnoses)
- Language
- ISSN
- 1058-8183
A 7-year-old male neutered domestic short-haired cat had depression for 5 months and acute blindness. A lesion at the level of the rostral and middle cranial fossae was suspected. A large pituitary mass compressing the optic chiasm was detected in magnetic resonance images and there was also evidence of recent intratumoral hemorrhage, leading to a diagnosis of pituitary apoplexy; these findings were confirmed at postmortem examination. Pituitary apoplexy is a clinical syndrome characterized by acute neurologic signs related to hemorrhagic infarction within a pituitary tumor. Pituitary apoplexy should be considered in patients with acute onset of blindness and altered mental status.