Pituitary tumor overview Pituitary tumor is a very common disease in neurosurgery, and is also one of the common neuroendocrine tumors, accounting for about 10-15% of neurological tumors. Although most pituitary tumors are benign, they can be very harmful to the human body, producing many adverse symptoms and affecting various functions of the body, and may even be life-threatening in critically ill pituitary tumor patients.
Symptoms of pituitary tumors The signs and symptoms of pituitary tumors may include loss of vision, especially peripheral vision (temporal hemianopia), headache, etc. If pituitary tumors cause abnormal secretion of various hormones by the pituitary gland, they may manifest as hormone secretion abnormalities, such as acromegaly and gigantism caused by abnormal growth hormone, irregular menstruation and breast milk discharge in women caused by abnormal prolactin, and breast development and erectile dysfunction in men. male breast development, erectile dysfunction, reduced sperm count, and loss of libido, etc., fat accumulation around the upper abdomen and upper back, exaggerated facial roundness, thinning of arms and legs with muscle weakness, hypertension, hyperglycemia, acne, weak bones, bruising, stretch marks, anxiety, irritability, or depression caused by abnormalities of adrenocorticotropic hormones, weight loss, rapid or irregular heartbeat, nervousness or irritability, frequent bowel movements, excessive sweating, etc., while the first symptom in patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas is usually impaired visual field. A more serious condition is pituitary stroke, a clinical syndrome in which a hemorrhagic or infarcted pituitary adenoma expands rapidly in the pterygoid saddle, with sudden headache and acute vision loss as the main manifestations, and an explosive pituitary stroke can be fatal. Therefore, pituitary tumors must be treated early and actively.
Can pituitary tumors be treated surgically? Yes, pituitary tumors can be cured and recovered smoothly through scientific treatment. Surgery is currently the main clinical treatment for pituitary tumors, and the type of surgery used is very important. The traditional transcranial approach surgery is very traumatic and may cause strain damage to brain tissue, resulting in a series of complications; the common transnasal microscopic surgery has a narrow field of view, which may cause residual resection and easy recurrence. In contrast, neuroendoscopic pituitary tumor resection by transnasal butterfly approach is widely carried out in clinical practice, which can completely remove the tumor under the direct view of endoscopic open field of vision, with good clinical effect, and is minimally invasive, with natural channel entrance and no external incision, leaving no scar.