Some pitfalls in the diagnosis of pituitary tumours: the importance of carotid angiography.

Headache and the radiological finding of an abnormal pituitary fossa are a frequent mode of presentation in patients with pituitary tumours. The case histories and radiological findings of 4 patients who presented with the above features, and in whom the major abnormalities of the pituitary fossa were due mainly to variations in the cavernous portions of the carotid artery, are described. The role of carotid angiography in the investigation of a patient with an abnormal pituitary fossa is stressed.