Pituitary tumors are common benign intracranial tumors with a population incidence of generally 1 in 100,000, with some reports as high as 7 in 100,000. The incidence is slightly higher in women than in men. The incidence of pituitary tumors is second only to glioma and meningioma among intracranial tumors, accounting for about 10% of intracranial tumors, but the detection rate in autopsy is 10% to 20%. In recent years, with the development of imaging technology, the incidence of pituitary tumor has a tendency to increase.
1. Where is the pituitary gland located?
The pituitary gland is like a pea-like gland, but slightly larger than a pea, and is located in a bony structure (the pterygoid saddle) at the base of our body’s brain. The pterygoid saddle protects the pituitary gland, but leaves only a small space for the pituitary to expand. The pituitary gland produces a variety of hormones, each of which can affect a specific part of the body (target organ), i.e. the pituitary gland regulates the function of most other endocrine glands. Pituitary tumors are tumors originating from anterior pituitary cells, which have insidious onset and slow progression, and do not have elevated intracranial pressure and positive neurological signs in early stage.
2.How is pituitary tumor classified?
Clinically speaking, first of all, pituitary tumors can be classified according to their size. The most common hormone-secreting pituitary tumor is prolactinoma, which accounts for 80%-85% of pituitary tumors.
3.What symptoms should be taken seriously?
Clinically, if women of childbearing age have normal menstruation, if their menstrual cycle suddenly becomes longer, prolonged for two or three months or no longer, it is necessary to be cautious, of course, there are two reasons, on the one hand, it may be a gynecological problem, and at the same time, it is also necessary to think about whether it is a pituitary adenoma. The period is often prolonged, so you must pay attention at this time.
The other thing is that normal people often collide when they drive or walk, and they always scrape with others when they drive, so they should pay attention to this. It is in the pituitary tumor, especially the non-functional macroadenoma, will cause patients visual field defects, a normal person’s vision range is a surface, but he can only see the front of things, can not see the side of things, often someone from the side, he will collide. This is the time to pay attention.