Acute calcific discitis is a rare condition in the pediatric population and has been reported in only 2 instances in the adult population. This report describes a case of acute calcific discitis that uniquely presented in the adult cervical spine. A 22-year-old woman presented with the chief complaint of sudden-onset neck pain. Nonsurgical management, including nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, provided moderate symptom relief. Radiography revealed nucleus pulposus calcification at the C2–3 level. Contrast-enhanced MRI did not reveal any additional abnormalities. Further nonsurgical management, including physical therapy and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, led to complete symptom relief within 6 months. Follow-up imaging demonstrated that the calcification had nearly resolved. Acute calcific discitis should be managed conservatively; the prognosis for a complete recovery is excellent. The pathophysiology of the disorder is yet to be elucidated, and the disorder is not exclusive to the pediatric population.
Background
Inferior petrosal sinus sampling (IPSS) is known as the gold standard to distinguish whether excessive adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) production origins from the pituitary gland or an ectopic source. However, due to a number of factors, the value of IPSS for adenoma lateralization may be limited. Aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of parasellar venous drainage (VD) patterns on IPSS findings in predicting lateralization of pituitary microadenomas.
Methods
We retrospectively reviewed records of confirmed cases of Cushing's disease which were evaluated by IPSS prior to endoscopic tansnasal trans-sphenoidal surgery (ETSS) to assess the ability of IPSS to predict adenoma laterality.
Results
Seventeen patients with pathologically confirmed Cushing's disease were retrospectively reviewed. The median age of the included patients was 37 years. Laterality of parasellar VD perfectly associated with lateralization as measured by IPSS. Symmetrical VD was associated with symmetrical ACTH gradient on IPSS. However, lateralization measured by IPSS did not show any significant correlation with lateralization detected during ETSS.
Conclusion
Our study suggests that IPSS lateralization results strongly depend on parasellar VD pattern but show no significant correlation with the adenoma lateralization found during ETSS. Thus, IPSS does not appear to be an appropriate modality to predict adenoma lateralization.
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