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Pituitary adenomas

Pituitary adenomas

Overview

The pituitary gland sits in a bony compartment (called the sella turcica) at the base of the skull and secretes hormones including:

These hormones perform a variety of essential hormonal and metabolic functions.

A pituitary adenoma is a non-cancerous growth or tumour on the pituitary gland. It is usually slow growing.

Symptoms that do arise from pituitary adenomas are caused by one of two mechanisms:

According to my.clevelandclinic.org, pituitary adenomas make up 10% to 15% of all tumours that develop within the skull. The Pacific Neuroscience Institute reports that pituitary adenomas are the third most common intracranial tumour.

Pituitary adenomas can occur at any age but are more common in people in their 30s or 40s. They are rarely found in those younger than 20. Women get adenomas more often than men.

Pituitary adenomas

Why is treatment important?

Most pituitary tumours are curable, but if left untreated, they can lead to serious complications such as complete vision loss.

Treatment for a pituitary tumour depends on its type, hormonal activity and whether it affects surrounding tissue.

With small tumours that are not causing serious symptoms, doctors rely on annual tests to check that the adenoma is not growing. They watch the patient for any symptoms.

Open or traditional surgery (trans-sphenoidal surgery) is the treatment of choice for most pituitary adenomas. However, this surgery is not always possible for technical reasons (eg contraindicated), or, because the tumour has grown into the cavernous sinus. It also does not always achieve the desired control and additional treatment is then needed to control symptoms.

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