Aspergillosis of the sphenoid sinus

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled “Primary aspergillosis of the sphenoid sinus with pituitary invasion – a rare differential diagnosis of sellar lesions.” Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2006 Jul 21). Authors are Pinzer T, Reiss M, Bourquain H et al, from the Klinik und Poliklinik fur Neurochirurgie, Universitatsklinikum Dresden, Dresden, Germany. Aspergillosis belongs to the group of mycotic diseases of paranasal sinuses. The invasive forms, and particularly the fulminant forms, are potentially fatal. Isolated aspergillosis of the sphenoid sinus or the clivus is a difficult diagnosis, since the often misleading clinical manifestations of this rare disease develop late. These patients become apparent by neurological signs such as cavernous sinus syndrome, pseudotumor of the pituitary or the orbit. Diagnosis is often made intra-operatively or on histological examination.The authors report a case of invasive aspergillosis uniquely involving the sellar area revealed by clinical features suggesting a pseudotumor of the pituitary. To access the full abstract of the article, click here.