Symptomatic Rathke's cleft cyst.

A rare case of symptomatic Rathke's cleft cyst in a 26-year-old female is reported. The clinical and radiological features of this lesion are described with emphasis on the differential diagnosis between Rathke's cleft cyst and craniopharyngIOma. Rathke's cleft cysts present a common incidental intrasellar autopsy finding occurring in 13% to 22% of randomly examined pituitary glands [1]. These lesions rarely, however, enlarge sufficiently enough to cause compression of adjacent neural structures. Although to date, approximately 155 cases of symptomatic Rathke's cleft cysts have been reported in the pertinent literature [2]; the condition continues to be largely unknown to clinicians. The purpose of this case report is to draw attention to this pathological entity which should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cystic lesions in the sellar area. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of symptomatic Rathke's cleft cyst to be reported from Saudi Arabia.