Skull Base 2004; 14(3): 163-168
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-832261
CASE REPORT

Copyright © 2004 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Sellar-Parasellar Brown Tumor: Case Report and Review of Literature

Selcuk Yilmazlar1 , Erhan Arslan1 , Kaya Aksoy1 , Sahsene Tolunay2
  • 1Departments of Neurosurgery, Uludag University School of Medicine, Bursa, Turkey
  • 2Department of Neuropathology, Uludag University School of Medicine, Bursa, Turkey
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
24 August 2004 (online)

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Brown tumors are the end stage of primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism. Such lesions are rare because hyperparathyroidism is now usually diagnosed and treated before they develop. Skeletal bone is most frequently involved, whereas sellar-parasellar involvement is extremely rare. We report a patient with a brown tumor involving the sellar-parasellar region associated with primary hyperparathyroidism. The patient's clinical history and biochemical and radiological tests were used for the diagnosis. Excision of the sellar-parasellar mass enabled histopathological confirmation and surgical decompression of neural structures. After the transsphenoidal surgery, excision of a parathyroid adenoma normalized the patient's metabolic status. Brown tumors are rarely associated with complications but occasionally may compress neural structures such as the optic nerve as they enlarge.