Symptomatic Granular Cell Tumor Involving the Pituitary Gland in a Dog: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

A granular cell tumor involving the pituitary gland, optic chiasm and ventral pyriform lobes was discovered in a 12-year-old Labrador Retriever. Clinical signs included acute blindness, seizures, ataxia, weakness, and behavioral changes. The diagnosis was established by histopathologic and ultrastructural examination of neoplastic tissues collected at necropsy. Granular cell tumors involving the central nervous system are well documented in humans but rarely have been described in dogs. The location of the neoplasm and the clinical symptoms seen in this dog closely parallel those of a rare syndrome in humans commonly described as symptomatic parasellar or pituitary granular cell tumors. The cell of origin for these tumors is still highly debated, and attempts to characterize human granular cell tumors through immunohistochemistry have produced conflicting results. An immunohistochemical profile of this neoplasm revealed focal positive staining for vimentin with a lack of staining for neuron-specific enolase, glial fibrillary acidic protein, S-100, and synaptophysin. All neoplastic cells were strongly positive with the periodic acid-Schiff reaction.