Pituitary region mass (mnemonic)

Changed by Daniel J Bell, 22 Sep 2017

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Pituitary region ~~masses~~mass (mnemonic)

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A useful mnemonic for remembering the differential for pituitary region masses is:

SATCHMO ^1-2

Mnemonic

S: sarcoid, ~~s~~ellar~~~~sellar tumour (pituitary adenoma)
A: aneurysm
T: teratoma or tuberculosis (and other granulomatous diseases)
C: craniopharyngioma, ~~c~~left~~~~cleft cyst (Rathke), c~~hordoma~~chordoma
H: hypothalamic glioma, h~~amartoma~~hamartoma of tuber cinereum, h~~istiocytosis~~histiocytosis
M: meningioma, ~~m~~etastasis~~~~metastasis
O: optic nerve glioma

Some prefer adding an E at the end and moving 'histiocytosis' to this last letter as:

E: eosinophilic granuloma or epidermoid/dermoid/teratoma

MOuSTACHE

M: meningioma, metastasis
O: optic nerve glioma
S: sarcoid, ~~s~~ellar~~~~sellar tumour (pituitary adenoma)
T: teratoma or tuberculosis (and other granulomatous diseases)
A: aneurysm
C: craniopharyngioma, c~~left~~cleft cyst (Rathke), c~~hordoma~~chordoma
H: hypothalamic glioma, h~~amartoma~~hamartoma of tuber cinereum.
E: eosinophilic granuloma or epidermoid/dermoid/teratoma

History and etymology

As the word Satchmo is best known as the nickname of Louis Armstrong, it is probably best to omit the ending E, especially as the term histiocytosis is preferred to eosinophilic granuloma.

~~-S: <a href="/articles/neurosarcoidosis">sarcoid</a>, sellar tumour (<a href="/articles/pituitary-adenoma">pituitary adenoma</a>)</li>~~
+S: <a href="/articles/neurosarcoidosis">sarcoid</a>, sellar tumour (<a href="/articles/pituitary-adenoma">pituitary adenoma</a>)</li>
-C: <a href="/articles/craniopharyngioma">craniopharyngioma</a>, <a href="/articles/rathkes-cleft-cyst">cleft cyst</a> (Rathke), <a href="/articles/chordoma">c</a><a href="/articles/chordoma">hordoma</a>
+C: <a href="/articles/craniopharyngioma">craniopharyngioma</a>, <a href="/articles/rathkes-cleft-cyst">cleft cyst</a> (Rathke), <a title="Intradural chordomas" href="/articles/ecchordosis-physaliphora">chordoma</a>
-H: <a href="/articles/hypothalamic-glioma">hypothalamic glioma</a>, <a href="/articles/hypothalamic-hamartoma">h</a><a href="/articles/hypothalamic-hamartoma">amartoma of tuber cinereum</a>, <a href="/articles/langerhans-cell-histiocytosis">h</a><a href="/articles/langerhans-cell-histiocytosis">istiocytosis</a>
+H: <a href="/articles/hypothalamic-glioma">hypothalamic glioma</a>, <a href="/articles/hypothalamic-hamartoma">hamartoma of tuber cinereum</a>, <a href="/articles/langerhans-cell-histiocytosis">histiocytosis</a>
~~-M: <a href="/articles/meningioma">meningioma, metastasis</a>~~
+M: <a href="/articles/meningioma">meningioma, metastasis</a>
~~-O: <a href="/articles/optic-nerve-glioma">optic nerve glioma</a>~~
+O: <a href="/articles/optic-pathway-glioma">optic nerve glioma</a>
~~-O: <a href="/articles/optic-nerve-glioma">optic nerve glioma</a>~~
+O: <a href="/articles/optic-pathway-glioma">optic nerve glioma</a>
-S: <a href="/articles/neurosarcoidosis">sarcoid</a>, sellar tumour (<a href="/articles/pituitary-adenoma">pituitary adenoma</a>)</li>
+S: <a href="/articles/neurosarcoidosis">sarcoid</a>, sellar tumour (<a href="/articles/pituitary-adenoma">pituitary adenoma</a>)</li>
-T: <a href="/articles/intracranial-teratoma">teratoma</a> or <a href="/articles/tuberculosis-intracranial-manifestations">tuberculosis</a> (and other granulomatous diseases) </li>
+T: <a href="/articles/intracranial-teratoma">teratoma</a> or <a href="/articles/tuberculosis-intracranial-manifestations">tuberculosis</a> (and other granulomatous diseases) </li>
~~-A: <a href="/articles/aneurysm">aneurysm</a>~~
+A: <a href="/articles/aneurysm">aneurysm</a>
-C: <a href="/articles/craniopharyngioma">craniopharyngioma</a>, <a href="/articles/rathkes-cleft-cyst">cleft cyst</a> (Rathke), <a href="/articles/chordoma">c</a><a href="/articles/chordoma">hordoma</a>
+C: <a href="/articles/craniopharyngioma">craniopharyngioma</a>, <a href="/articles/rathkes-cleft-cyst">cleft cyst</a> (Rathke), <a href="/articles/chordoma">chordoma</a>
-H: <a href="/articles/hypothalamic-glioma">hypothalamic glioma</a>, <a href="/articles/hypothalamic-hamartoma">h</a><a href="/articles/hypothalamic-hamartoma">amartoma of tuber cinereum</a>.</li>
+H: <a href="/articles/hypothalamic-glioma">hypothalamic glioma</a>, <a href="/articles/hypothalamic-hamartoma">hamartoma of tuber cinereum</a>.</li>

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Pituitary region mass (mnemonic)

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Mnemonic

History and etymology

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