The severity of pituitary tumors depends on the condition of the pituitary gland. If the tumor is benign, it is not serious, but if malignant changes occur, it is more serious.
Most pituitary tumors are benign, and patients may experience symptoms of pressure and abnormal hormone secretion, which are usually not life-threatening. Treatment includes medication, surgery and radiation therapy, and generally has a good prognosis and is less likely to recur. Therefore, benign pituitary tumors are not serious.
A small number of pituitary tumors may become malignant and develop intracranial or distant sexual metastases. At this time, the tumor volume is usually larger, and it is easy to appear heavy compression symptoms, such as compression of the optic nerve will cause visual field defects, vision loss and even blindness.
In addition, the serious condition may have pituitary crisis, i.e. the tumor blood vessels grow abnormally, increase in size and other triggers lead to tumor rupture and hemorrhage, necrosis of tumor tissue, which may be manifested as severe headache, nausea and vomiting, blindness, sudden coma, etc., and if not treated in time, it may lead to death.
The treatment of malignant pituitary tumor is mainly based on surgery, and can be supplemented by radiation therapy and drug therapy. Since larger pituitary tumors may encircle cerebral blood vessels and nerves, it is difficult to remove them cleanly by surgery, and therefore, they may recur after surgery. Therefore, pituitary tumors with malignant changes will be more serious.
It is recommended that patients suffering from pituitary tumors should go to a professional hospital in time and cooperate with doctors for treatment.