Pituitary tumors are tumors that occur in the pituitary gland, often called pituitary adenomas, and are one of the common neuroendocrine tumors, accounting for approximately 10-15% of central nervous system tumors. The vast majority of pituitary adenomas are benign tumors.
The pituitary gland is located in the pituitary fossa of the disc saddle at the base of the skull and is connected to the hypothalamus by the pituitary stalk, its size is 1.2cm long, 0.8cm wide and 0.6cm high, the pituitary gland weighs 0.35~0.80g in adult male and 0.45~0.90g in female. ACTH), growth hormone (GH), pro(cui)lactogenic hormone (PRL), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), etc. The posterior pituitary gland stores mainly antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and oxytocin, which are secreted by the hypothalamus.
Pituitary adenoma is a benign adenoma that is quite common, with one case in 100,000 people, and has been increasing in recent years, especially in women of childbearing age. The Beijing Institute of Neurosurgery reports that pituitary adenoma accounts for 12.2% of intracranial tumors.
Clinical manifestations The pituitary gland is an important endocrine organ, containing several kinds of endocrine cells, which secrete many kinds of endocrine hormones.
The endocrine manifestations of different types of pituitary adenomas are described as follows: 1. Growth hormone cell adenoma: The early tumor is only a few millimeters in size and mainly shows excessive secretion of growth hormone. It can grow excessively in immature patients and even develop into a giant. As an adult, the tumor may become an enlarged limb. For example, the face changes, the forehead becomes bigger, the jaw protrudes, the nose is bigger and the lips thicker, the fingers become thicker, the shoes and hats feel tighter, and the larger models are changed several times or even have to be specially made. The main manifestations of prolactin cell adenoma are amenorrhea, overflow of milk, infertility, loss of axillary hair, pale and delicate skin, increased subcutaneous fat, and fatigue, fatigue, drowsiness, headache, and hypogonadism. In men, the manifestation is hypogonadism, impotence, breast enlargement, beard scarcity, atrophy of reproductive organs, sperm count reduction, infertility, etc., but not many men and women; 3. In severe cases, amenorrhea, loss of libido, general weakness, and even bedridden. Some patients also have hypertension and diabetes mellitus. 4. Thyroid-stimulating hormone cell tumor: Rare, due to excessive secretion of thyroid-stimulating hormone in the pituitary gland, causing hyperthyroidism symptoms, which disappear after removal of pituitary tumor. There are also focal hyperplasia of the pituitary gland caused by hypothyroidism feedback, which gradually develops into pituitary adenoma, which may also cause symptoms of enlargement of the saddle and compression of nearby tissues after growth; 5. Endocrine inactive adenoma: early patients have no special feeling that the tumor grows up and can compress the pituitary gland to cause clinical manifestation of pituitary insufficiency; 8. Sometimes the tumor penetrates the saddle base and grows into the pterygoid sinus, but the neurological symptoms are not obvious for a short period of time.