This study presents the CT imaging and histological aspects of a lot of cavernous sinus disease that include primary and secondary neoplastic processes, congenital lesions, infectious and inflammatory processes, and vascular abnormalities.
Material and methods: All 47 patients were CT explored with and without intravenous contrast, using specific protocols for orbit and brain. We studied the topography of the tumors, their impact to neighborhood regions and post-treatment results. For all patients we performed histological examination.
Results: We found 26 cases with sellar origin of the tumor and 21 cases of para-sellar origin, with a significant extension in 22 cases. The most frequent histologic type of tumors were represented by hypophyseal adenoma (17 cases), followed by meningiomas (9 cases) and cranio-pharyngiomas (5 cases).
Conclusions: CT imaging allows a fast and accurate analysis of sellar and para-sellar tumors, with a tumor extension assessment. The clinical and imaging diagnosis is confirmed by histological examination.