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[This article belongs to Volume - 70, Issue - 9]
Published on : 2025-09-11 19:28:14
Article Code: AMJ-11-09-2025-12338
Title : Postpartum Pituitary Apoplexy: A Rare Clinical Entity – A Case Report
Author(s) : Marcus Johnson, Aisha Bello, Tomás Fernández
Abstract :
Background: Postpartum pituitary apoplexy is an extremely rare neurological emergency. It may present
with sudden onset of headache, vomiting, nausea, and visual disturbances. This potentially life
threatening emergency requires a high index of suspicion from the attending clinician. Postpartum
pituitary apoplexy can be challenging to diagnose because of its symptoms that overlap with multiple
other conditions. There is a limited number of case reports on postpartum pituitary apoplexy. Case
presentation: We present a case of a 30-year-old multiparous woman with gestational diabetes mellitus
who experienced on and off headache from 37 weeks of gestation. Her complaint was not investigated by
medical personnel during her routine antenatal follow-ups until after she had a normal delivery.
Subsequently, she developed diplopia, nauseated and vomiting episodes post-delivery, but she only came
to seek treatment in our emergency department on day 12 postpartum as the symptoms were not
resolved. Initial Contrast Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) of the brain revealed an enhancing
sellar lesion causing widening of pituitary fossa, after which she was scheduled for Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI). MRI brain revealed a lobulated sellar and suprasellar mass with a mass effect to optic
chiasm and she underwent endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal excision of the tumour. Post
operatively, her vision improved and she was subsequently discharged with oral hormonal supplements.
Conclusion: Diagnosis of pituitary apoplexy should be considered whenever headache and neurological
deficits are present, although it is an extremely rare condition.