What is a Sellar Mass?

Abstract. Background: Sellar masses (SM) are mostly benign growths of pituitary or nonpituitary origin that are increasingly encountered in clinical practice. To date, no comprehensive population-based study has reported the epidemiology of SM from North America.

What are the complications of transsphenoidal surgery?

Risks and complications that may occur with this type of surgery also include:

  • CSF rhinorrhea. CSF, or cerebrospinal fluid, is the fluid that surrounds the brain, and it may leak from the nose after surgery.
  • Meningitis.
  • Damage to normal parts of the pituitary gland.
  • Diabetes insipidus.
  • Severe bleeding.
  • Visual problems.

What causes a Sellar Mass?

Pituitary adenomas are the most common cause of a mass in the sella. In as many as 9% of cases, other etiologies are responsible for mass lesions in the sellar regions4, 13′ (Table 1).

What is the imaging of choice for Sellar lesions?

Magnetic Resonance An optimal assessment of sellar and suprasellar mass lesions requires both non-contrast and gadolinium-enhanced MRI imaging.

Where is Sellar?

The area immediately around the pituitary, the sellar region and parasellar region, is an anatomically complex area that represents a crucial crossroads for important adjacent structures. The pituitary gland and sella are located below the center of the brain in the center of the skull base.

Where is the sella in the brain?

The pituitary is a small gland located just underneath the brain. It is attached to the bottom of the brain by the pituitary stalk. The pituitary sits protected inside a saddle-like bony compartment in the base of the skull. This compartment is called the sella.

What does a mass on the pituitary gland mean?

Pituitary tumor Some pituitary tumors result in too much of the hormones that regulate important functions of your body. Some pituitary tumors can cause your pituitary gland to produce lower levels of hormones. Most pituitary tumors are noncancerous (benign) growths (adenomas).

Is pituitary tumor a brain tumor?

A tumor that develops in the pituitary gland is typically considered to be a type of brain cancer. The pituitary gland, which is responsible for producing and releasing hormones into the body, is located inside the skull, just beneath the brain and above the nasal passages.

What is the sella in the brain?

Where is the sella?

The sella turcica is a saddle-shaped depression located in the bone at the base of skull (sphenoid bone), in which resides the pituitary gland.