Pituitary tumors require surgery in many cases. Except for simple prolactinomas, which can be treated conservatively by taking medications, most other types of pituitary tumors are still treated mainly by surgery. Some patients may still be lucky and ask if pituitary tumors will die without surgery.
Let’s take a look at what are the main hazards and symptoms of pituitary tumors and see if these factors can cause death. The harm of pituitary tumor mainly comes from two aspects: one is the harm caused by the occupational effect of the tumor, that is, the physical compression caused by the tumor itself, which can compress the optic nerve and cause the loss of vision and visual field. On the other hand, the symptoms caused by abnormal endocrine function include acromegaly, gigantism, menopause, lactation, abnormal breast development, infertility, sexual dysfunction, loss of libido, persistent hypertension, hyperglycemia, facial freckles, abnormal stretch marks, sudden weight gain, sudden enlargement of hands and feet, change of facial appearance, increase of cheekbones, enlargement of nose, thickening of lips, protrusion of maxilla, etc.
This shows that pituitary tumors can be fatal if left untreated. For example, pituitary adenoma of growth hormone type and adrenocorticotropic hormone type can cause stubborn hypertension and hyperglycemia, and general antihypertensive and hypoglycemic drugs do not work, which can be life-threatening in about ten years. In addition, pituitary tumors can cause hypothalamic hypofunction, which can lead to depression, sleepiness and even death; acute pituitary stroke can be life-threatening soon; and various chronic symptoms caused by pituitary tumors can also affect life expectancy to a certain extent.
So there should be an answer to the question of whether pituitary tumors can kill you without surgery. There should be no more flukes and timely treatment is required. At present, the treatment of pituitary tumors is mainly based on surgical treatment. The neuroendoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary tumor resection carried out in our clinic at present can achieve good therapeutic results. Through the natural channel of the nasal cavity, there is no need to open the cranium, and the surgery is very traumatic, without external incision, leaving no scars.