Pineal gland cyst
4705338
178908530
2007-12-19T07:31:50Z
Bekkiwi
2938527
added reference link to above article - most of the original entry seems to have been taken from this paper's abstract
{{Unreferenced|date=June 2007}}
A '''pineal gland cyst''' is a [[cyst]] in the [[pineal gland]], a small [[endocrine system|endocrine]] gland in the [[brain]].. Statisically, these fluid-filled bodies appear on 1-4% of [[magnetic resonance imaging]] (MRI) brain scans. They are more frequent at death, seen in 21-41% of autopsies, though researchers are not sure why. They are in most cases asymptomatic, and it is rare for a pineal cyst to cause symptoms. If they do, these would most likely be headache, visual disturbances, or [[hydrocephalus]], which can be extremely dangerous if left untreated. Pineal cysts are '''not''' cancer and most of the time they do not enlarge over 2 centimeters.
Asymptomatic cysts require no treatment. Some doctors choose to monitor patients with [[CT scan]]s or MRI to look for cyst growth, but most doctors do not{{fact|date=June 2007)).
[[Category:Neurological disorders]]
[[Category:Neuroendocrinology]]
{{med-stub}}
The above information was found in a journal article, "High Prevalence of Pineal Cysts in Healthy Adults Demonstrated by High-Resolution, Noncontrast Brain MR Imaging" by Y. Pua, S. Mahankalia, J. Houa, J. Lia, J.L. Lancastera, J.-H. Gaoa, D.E. Appelbaumb and P.T. Fox.
Published ahead of print on September 20, 2007
doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A0656
American Journal of Neuroradiology 28:1706-1709, October 2007
© 2007 American Society of Neuroradiology
Weblink: http://www.ajnr.org/cgi/content/full/28/9/1706