What are the symptoms of empty sella syndrome (ESS)?

What are the symptoms of empty sella syndrome (ESS)?

The most common symptom potentially associated with empty sella syndrome (ESS) is chronic headaches. However, researchers don’t know for sure if headaches develop because of ESS or are simply coincidental. Many people with ESS have high blood pressure (hypertension), which can itself cause headaches if it’s severe.

ESS usually causes hormonal imbalances due to damage to your pituitary gland. People with ESS may have different symptoms depending on which hormone(s) are affected. If you have ESS, you may have any of the following symptoms:

• Irregular nipple discharge (galactorrhea).
• Erectile dysfunction.
• Irregular menstruation (periods) or absent periods (amenorrhea).
• Decreased or no desire for sex (low libido).
• Fatigue.

In rare cases, some people with empty sella syndrome have the following symptoms:

• Increased pressure within their skull (benign intracranial pressure).
• Leakage of cerebrospinal fluid from the nose (cerebrospinal rhinorrhea).
• Swelling of the optic disk due to increased cranial pressure (papilledema).
• Vision changes, such as loss of clarity of vision.

Again, you can have an empty sella appear on an imaging scan of your brain without having any symptoms. In fact, most people who have an empty sella don’t have symptoms and never develop symptoms.