Clinics in Diagnostic Imaging (81)

P Visrutaratna, K Oranratanachai
Correspondence: Dr Pannee Visrutaratna, pvisruta@mail.med.cmu.ac.th

ABSTRACT
A 15-month-old boy presented with failure to thrive. Physical examination revealed third degree malnutrition. MR imaging showed a large lobulated mass in the suprasellar region. The mass was hypointense on T1-weighted MR images, hyperintense on proton density-weighted and T2-weighted MR images, and enhanced homogeneously. The patient underwent a craniotomy for a subtotal resection of the tumour. Histopathological examination revealed a juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma that caused the diencephalic syndrome. Clinical presentation and imaging findings of the various tumours or diseases that can cause suprasellar masses in children are discussed and illustrated via further examples.

Keywords: Suprasellar masses, Magnetic resonance imaging, Computed tomography, hypothalamicglioma, juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma
Singapore Med J 2003; 44(1): 45-50