The clinical manifestations of pituitary adenoma vary widely, and the departments where patients are first seen can be relatively scattered, with the most common departments being neurosurgery, endocrinology, gynecology, ophthalmology, etc.
Here we will learn more about what harm pituitary adenoma can do to the body.
1. Pituitary adenoma can cause headache.
About 2/3 of patients have headache in the early stage of pituitary adenoma, which is mild and intermittent. If no treatment is given, the pain will recur and worsen as the tumor grows.
2. Pituitary adenoma causes vision loss and visual field defects.
Patients often experience vision loss, can’t see both sides, always hit the door side, and in severe cases, gradually progress to blindness or sudden headache blindness, so they go to ophthalmology and check out pituitary adenoma. If visual field impairment occurs, surgery is needed as soon as possible to release the compression on the optic nerve and save the vision.
3. Pituitary adenoma causes menstrual irregularities, lactation and infertility.
Female patients often show menstrual disorders, menopause, lactation (spontaneous milk flow from the breast or milk flow after touching the breast), inability to conceive, change in sexual desire and ability (mostly loss of sexual ability), decrease in body hair and change in skin (thinning), which greatly affect physical and mental health and family life.
4.Pituitary adenoma can cause acromegaly.
Patients show progressive enlargement of hands and feet, skull, thorax and limbs, hypertrophy of palms, thickening of fingers, spherical distal end, bulging forehead, protruding orbits and cheekbones, i.e. jaw, widening of teeth, thickening of lips, wide and flattened nose, enlarged ears, etc.
So what tests should be done if pituitary adenoma is suspected? Generally speaking, the early symptoms of pituitary adenoma include headache, nausea, vomiting, along with endocrine symptoms. When the relevant symptoms appear, you should go to the hospital for examination, such as having a CT examination, and then after a more detailed MRI examination, it can be clarified. The current treatment of pituitary adenoma is mainly surgery, supplemented by radiation therapy and medication.
Although pituitary adenoma is a benign tumor disease, it still has obvious effects on the human body, such as causing visual impairment and endocrine disorders, etc. When these conditions occur, it is important to go to the hospital for diagnosis and treatment in a timely manner, so as not to miss the best time for treatment.