A 7-Year-Old Boy Is Being Evaluated for Growth Retardation

question 502

Multiple Choice

A 7-year-old boy is being evaluated for growth retardation.  Brain MRI shows a 4 cm multiloculated, cystic, suprasellar lesion, which is bulging into the floor of the third ventricle and base of the brain.  Calcifications are present.  From which of the following structures is this mass most likely derived?

• A)Prolactin secreting cells of the anterior pituitary
• B)Remnants of the Rathke pouch
• C)Astrocytes
• D)Arachnoid cap cells
• E)Posterior pituitary cells

---

Definitions:

Bacterial Decomposition

The process by which bacteria break down organic material, such as dead organisms or waste, into simpler substances.

Organic Nitrogen

Nitrogen that is incorporated into organic compounds, a vital element for life processes within organisms.

Ammonia

A colorless gas with a pungent smell, NH3, used as a nitrogen source in fertilizers and as a cleaning agent.

Solar Radiation

The electromagnetic energy emitted by the sun, which reaches the earth and is a key factor in climate and weather patterns, as well as photosynthesis.