1.Q: What is pituitary tumor pituitary tumor? A: Pituitary adenoma pituitary adenoma is a benign tumor composed of anterior pituitary cells 2.Q: Why do you have pituitary tumor?
A: Oh, we are also studying this problem, which can be explained by abnormal proliferation of monoclonal cells. The real pathogenesis of pituitary tumor has not been found yet.
3.Q: Is the incidence of pituitary tumors high?
A: The result of large-scale statistics is that one out of 100,000 people develops pituitary tumor every year, if you have a pituitary tumor, congratulations on winning the lottery. But don’t be afraid to have a pituitary tumor, after all, it is a benign disease, there are ways to cure it.
4.Q: Can pituitary tumors be inherited?
A: No definite evidence has been found that pituitary tumors are hereditary, so even if you have a pituitary tumor, you can rest assured that it will not be passed on to the next generation. If someone finds a familial pituitary tumor, please let me know immediately and I will give you a big prize and never go back on my word.
5.Q: What are the symptoms of pituitary tumor?
A: To answer this question, we must first know the classification of pituitary tumors: pituitary tumors can be classified according to the type of hormone secreted: 1) Lactogenic pituitary tumors: men show decreased libido, women show irregular menstruation or even amenorrhea, and overflow of milk (milk). 2) Growth hormone pituitary tumors: mainly show gigantism, facial changes, thick hands and feet (increased shoe size), and increased blood sugar. 3) ACTH type pituitary tumor: The main manifestations are obesity, full-moon face, hirsutism, and purple lines (purple-red skin lines on the body). 4) Non-hormonal adenoma: No hormone secretion, vision loss, visual field defects, and headache caused by tumor enlargement. 5) Other pituitary tumors of FSH, LH, and TSH types are rare. In addition to their respective symptoms, common manifestations include polyhydramnios (thirst and urination), headache, dizziness, significant loss of vision, and visual field defects (difficulty seeing on both sides). In case of pituitary tumor stroke (tumor bleeding) there can also be severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and even blindness.
6.Q: How to check out pituitary tumor?
A: Generally, CT and MRI are needed to detect pituitary tumor, and it should be noted that to confirm the diagnosis, CT and MRI of saddle area should be taken, and it is better to play contrast agent. It is recommended to go to a big hospital to take the film, because the machine of the big hospital is better, the film is clearer. If the film is not clear, it is equal to nothing.
7.Q: What should I do if I have a pituitary tumor? Should I take medicine or open surgery?
A: At present, the treatment of pituitary tumors is still mainly surgery, supplemented by drug therapy, radiation therapy, gamma knife. The main drug is bromocriptan, the efficacy is not very sure, and the price is also more expensive, a piece of medicine to a few dollars. As long as the knife is opened well, most pituitary tumors can be cured.
8.Q: I have irregular menstruation and overflowing breast, but the MRI film says there is no pituitary tumor, what is going on?
A: Some female patients have symptoms of amenorrhea and breast overflow, and blood tests show increased prolactin, but the MRI does not reveal pituitary tumors, which is called hyperprolactinemia.
9.Q: I took an MRI and the report says that the pituitary gland is hyperplastic, what is it?
A: Pituitary gland hyperplasia is due to changes in the human endocrine environment, such as puberty, pregnancy, etc. stimulate the growth of pituitary glands, is generally not very large, do not need to open surgery.
10.Q: Is there any risk of pituitary tumor surgery?
A: Pituitary tumor is located in the saddle area and surrounded by important nerve structures such as optic nerve, internal carotid artery and hypothalamus, so there is still some risk in the surgery. Of course, each pituitary tumor patient’s risk varies. Generally the larger the growth, the more difficult it is.
11.Q: Is Gamma Knife effective for pituitary tumors?
A: Gamma knife can not be used for relatively large (more than one centimeter), cystic, close to the optic nerve pituitary tumor, so its scope of action is relatively limited, mainly for less than one centimeter, substantial small pituitary tumor, or as an adjuvant treatment after surgery.
12.Q: I heard that many people have urinary collapse after pituitary tumor surgery, what is it? What other complications can occur?
A: Pituitary tumor surgery more or less always affects the posterior pituitary lobe, which can easily cause the posterior pituitary hormone secretion deficiency after surgery, and one of the functions of the posterior pituitary hormone is to control urine volume, so it can lead to increased urine volume and even urinary collapse. The majority of patients can be cured by drinking more water and using medications such as posterior pituitary hormone and Mirex. As for other complications, such as hypothalamic reaction, optic nerve damage, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, etc., the doctor will explain to the patient’s family before the surgery.
13.Q: Will pituitary tumor recur after surgery?
A: First of all, pituitary tumor is a benign tumor, but it has a certain recurrence rate, which is about ten percent. It is mainly related to the characteristics of the tumor itself. For general pituitary tumors, as long as the surgery is clean, the recurrence rate is very small; however, some aggressive pituitary tumors are very prone to recurrence. As for which pituitary tumors are aggressive, the MRI and pathology report can help doctors identify them. Therefore, we usually let patients review the films three days, one month, three months, six months and one year after surgery to observe the dynamic changes of the operated area and evaluate the efficacy of the surgery.
14.Q: Should I do radiotherapy after pituitary tumor surgery?
A: The previous view was to do radiotherapy after surgery, which resulted in many patients with low pituitary function and poor quality of life. Now we believe that: general pituitary tumors, as long as the surgery is clean, do not need radiotherapy, only some invasive pituitary tumors, there are residual or recurrence after surgery, radiotherapy or Gamma knife treatment.
15.Why should I take prednisone before and after pituitary tumor surgery? Why do you try not to take bromelain before surgery?
A: Pituitary tumor surgery tends to affect the secretion of cortisol hormone, so the hormone (prednisone) should be supplemented before and after surgery. We usually take 5mg tid of prednisone after surgery, and change to 5mg bid after two weeks, and slowly reduce the amount of hormone. Bromocriptan is likely to cause the pituitary tumor to become hard, which is not very good to be removed during surgery, so try to stop using bromocriptan before the surgery.
16.What is Rathke´s cyst? What is the difference between it and pituitary tumor?
A: Rathke´s cyst is a less common congenital cyst in the saddle area. It is easily confused with cystic pituitary tumor. It is now becoming better understood. rathke´s cyst is a benign cyst that also causes endocrine symptoms and therefore should be operated on. It has an excellent surgical outcome, a better prognosis than pituitary tumors, and does not recur.