[Pituitary abscess. A case report (author's transl)].

The case of a patient with apparently primitive pituitary abscess is presented along with a review of the current literature on the subject. Pituitary abscess is rare and should be suspected in patients with hypopituitarism or a febrile chiasma syndrome as well as in the presence of acute or chronic relapsing aseptic meningitis. Diagnosis is based upon radiologic examination particularly tomography of the sella turcica and computerized axial tomography. With early surgical treatment the prognosis is favourable resulting at times in partial or total correction of pituitary function. Twenty-six patients were studied. In twelve of these patients no origin of the abscess was found. Pituitary tumor was found in eight patients and sphenoidal sinusitis in six patients.