Pituitary tumors are a common brain tumor, accounting for approximately 10% of intracranial tumors. In terms of age group, people aged 20-40 years old are the most common, accounting for 40% of the incidence. And the incidence rate is four times higher in women than in men. How should pituitary tumors be treated?
Pituitary tumors are divided into the following categories: 1) growth hormone adenoma 2) lactogenic adenoma 3) adrenocorticotropic adenoma 4) non-functional pituitary adenoma Patients need to be clear that most pituitary tumors are benign adenomas and very few are cancerous. Once a pituitary tumor is detected, a tumor ≤ 1 cm is called a microadenoma; 1-4 cm is a macroadenoma; > 4 cm is a giant adenoma.
How should pituitary tumors be treated?
Drug treatment, representative drug: bromocriptine. Mostly used for prolactin adenomas and growth hormone adenomas.
Craniotomy, there are transfrontal craniotomy and transnasal dish surgery. The former is suitable for the removal of large pituitary tumors, while the latter is suitable for the removal of smaller pituitary tumors. However, larger pituitary tumors or invasive pituitary tumors and small pituitary tumors with poorly demarcated pituitary glands cannot be completely removed surgically and have a higher chance of recurrence after surgery. In recent years, due to the continuous improvement of surgical techniques, the surgical mortality rate has been reduced to 0.9%-4.7%, and the chance of various complications and sequelae is about 10%.
Gamma knife treatment, head gamma knife has been applied to treat various intracranial diseases for decades, and its good therapeutic effect and proper protection of normal nerve function have been recognized by neurosurgeons all over the world. Gamma knife treatment of pituitary tumor efficiency of 95-98.5%. Gamma knife treatment of pituitary tumors has many unique advantages compared with surgery, no incision, less pain, less injury, less risk and fewer complications. Of course, Gamma Knife also has disadvantages: the effect is slow, there is a period of time to take effect, not as immediate as surgery, Gamma Knife requires long-term close observation, can not make the pituitary tumor completely disappear, can not obtain the pathological diagnosis.