Candidal Pituitary Abscess

Abstract

We report a case of a culture-proven intrasellar Candida albicans abscess. A 36-year-old woman presented with a history of headaches, menstrual irregularities, and mild symptoms of diabetes insipidus. She was neurologically intact at the time of a transsphenoidal surgery for a presumed pituitary adenoma. An extensive work-up revealed that although the patient was seronegative for human immunodeficiency virus, she was immunocompromised with a T-cell dysfunction. Fungal abscesses of the pituitary gland have rarely been reported. This is the first documented case of a patient who is seronegative for human immunodeficiency virus who becomes infected by an ordinarily innocuous fungus, Candida albicans.