Teaching NeuroImages: Ma2 encephalitis presenting as acute panhypopituitarism in a young man

Neurology. 2013 Nov 5;81(19):e146-7. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000435307.33389.f7.

Abstract

A 21-year-old man presented with headache, hypotonia, hypothermia, and somnolence, deteriorating to a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 3 within days. Hormonal testing revealed panhypopituitarism. His cerebral MRI showed a gadolinium-enhancing lesion in the pituitary gland with adjacent changes to the hypothalamus, midbrain, and basal ganglia (figures 1 and 2). Therapy with prednisolone resulted in rapid improvement. Ma2 antibodies were found in the patient's serum and CSF. FDG-PET demonstrated a tumor mass in the superior mediastinum and histology revealed a mediastinal seminoma. Ma2 antibody-mediated paraneoplastic disease has to be considered as a rare differential diagnosis in patients presenting with acute panhypopituitarism.(1.)

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Antigens, Neoplasm / metabolism*
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology
  • Encephalitis / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Encephalitis / diagnosis*
  • Encephalitis / diagnostic imaging
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
  • Glasgow Coma Scale
  • Humans
  • Hypopituitarism / diagnosis
  • Hypopituitarism / physiopathology*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism*
  • Pituitary Gland / pathology
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Ma2 antigen
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins
  • Fluorodeoxyglucose F18

Supplementary concepts

  • Combined Pituitary Hormone Deficiency