Pituitary Apoplexy Mimicking Meningitis

Abstract

Pituitary apoplexy is a rare but life-threatening disorder. Clinical presentation of this condition includes severe headaches, impaired consciousness, fever, visual disturbance, and variable ocular paresis. The clinical presentation of meningeal irritation is very rare. Nonetheless, if present and associated with fever, pituitary apoplexy may be misdiagnosed as a meningitis. We experienced a case of pituitary apoplexy masquerading as a meningitis. A 42-year-old man presented with meningitis associated symptoms and initial imaging studies did not show evidence of intra-lesional hemorrhage in the pituitary mass. However, a follow-up imaging after neurological deterioration revealed pituitary apoplexy. Hereby, we report our case with a review of literatures.