• Khaled M Aldahmani, Jayadevan Sreedharan, Mohamad Milad Ismail, Jim Philip, Satish Chandrasekhar Nair, Mohammad Alfelasi, Waseem Aziz, Syed Ali Imran, and Juma Alkaabi.
• From the Division of Endocrinology, Tawam Hospital, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
• Ann Saudi Med. 2020 Mar 1; 40 (2): 105-112.

BackgroundThe prevalence of sellar masses (SMs) is reported in Europe and North America but only limited data are available from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.ObjectivesAssess the prevalence and characteristics of SMs in Al Ain city, United Arab Emirates.DesignRetrospective, descriptive multicenter study.SettingThree endocrine centers in Al Ain.Patients And MethodsAll patients diagnosed with SMs in the city of Al Ain, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, between 2011 and 2016 were evaluated. Cases were identified using ICD 9 and 10 codes and demographic and clinical data were collected. The prevalence rate was calculated for patients alive and residing in Al Ain city until 31 December 2016.Main Outcome MeasuresClinical presentations and prevalence rate.Sample Size272.ResultsThe mean (SD) age on presentation was 40.8 (14.3) years (range: 6-114 years, median: 40.0). The 170 (61.8%) females and 128 (46.5%) were native citizens of the United Arab Emirates. Two hundred and forty five (90%) patients had pituitary adenomas (PAs) while 27 (10%) had non-pituitary sellar lesions. The four most common SMs were prolactinoma (n=139, 51.1%), nonfunctioning adenoma (NFA) (n= 69, 25.4%), somatotroph adenoma (n=32, 11.8%) and craniopharyngioma (n=15, 5.5%). Patients with prolactinoma, corticotroph adenoma, and Rathke's cleft cyst had small sellar masses (<1 centimeter) while the majority of patients with other SMs had macroadenomas. Hypogonadism and growth hormone deficiency was present in 41.8% and 20.5% of the patients, respectively. Of 268 patients with available data, 82 patients underwent surgery while 25 patients received radiotherapy. At the end of 2016, 197 patients were residing in Al Ain city. The overall prevalence of SMs was 25.7/100 000 with PAs constituting most of these masses (n=177) for a prevalence of 23.1/100 000.ConclusionsThis is the first study of SMs in the United Arab Emirates and the MENA region. Prolactinoma and NFA were the two most common SMs. Further studies are needed to explore the reasons for the lower prevalence of SMs in our region compared with other countries.LimitationsRetrospective design, relatively small sample size.Conflict Of InterestNone.

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