RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Giant prolactinomas (>4 cm) are a rare entity, constituting less than 1% of all pituitary tumors. Diagnosis can usually be achieved through endocrinological analysis, but biopsy may be considered when trying to differentiate between invasive nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas and primary clival tumors such as chordomas. OBSERVATIONS: The authors presented a rare case of a giant prolactinoma causing significant clival and occipital condyle erosion, which led to craniocervical instability. They provided a review of the multimodal management. Management involved medical therapy with dopamine agonists, and surgery was reserved for acute neural compression or dopamine agonist resistance, with the caveat that surgery was extremely unlikely to lead to normalization of serum prolactin in dopamine agonist-resistant tumors. LESSONS: Adjunctive surgical therapy may be necessary in cases of skull base erosion, particularly when erosion or pathological fractures involve the occipital condyles. Modern posterior occipital-cervical fusion techniques have high rates of arthrodesis and can lead to symptomatic improvement. This procedure should be considered early in the multimodal approach to giant prolactinomas because of the often dramatic response to medical therapy and potential for further craniocervical instability.
RESUMO
Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease is a form of a benign necrotizing lymphadenitis which is most commonly misdiagnosed as tuberculosis and or lymphoma, usually more common among young adults in Asia. It is a benign disease but can mimic a lot of other disease processes spanning infectious, rheumatologic and even hematologic malignancies. Our patient presented with prolonged fever and lymphadenopathy. Initial considerations were lymphoma and a nonspecific viral infection. A CT scan showed diffuse cervical lymphadenopathy with lacrimal gland involvement. An excisional lymph node biopsy was done which revealed Kikuchi disease. Patient was given steroids with immediate response with defervescence. Kikuchi is a disease with many mimics and a complete workup is needed to exclude serious disease like malignancy.
