Ectopic pinealoma. Report of a case and remarks on the treatment.

A case of ectopic pinealoma is reported. It presented with the clinical triad of visual disturbances of the chiasmatic type, diabetes insipidus, hypothalamic-hypophyseal impairment, and with enlargement of the sella turcica on roentgenographic examination. The patient is alive and well eight years after incomplete removal followed by radiation treatment. It is felt that this is the correct treatment for such lesions, rather than radiation treatment alone as apparently favoured in other reports. The diagnostic and therapeutic points supporting such an opinion are discussed.