What kind of disease is pituitary tumor

What kind of disease is pituitary tumor? Many people in life do not know much about this disease, and some have never even heard of it. Pituitary tumors usually occur in young and middle-aged people, and often affect the patient's growth and development, reproductive function, learning and work ability. So, what kind of disease is pituitary tumor? The following is a detailed introduction.

Pituitary tumors are a group of tumors that originate from the anterior and posterior pituitary and residual cells of the craniopharyngeal epithelium. Those with obvious clinical symptoms account for about 10% of intracranial tumors, and are slightly more common in men than in women. Clinically, pituitary tumors are mainly benign tumors that occur on the pituitary gland, also known as pituitary adenomas. They are one of the common neuroendocrine tumors, accounting for 10% to 15% of central nervous system tumors. The vast majority of pituitary adenomas are benign tumors.

Patients usually present with symptoms of excessive hormone secretion, such as acromegaly caused by excessive growth hormone, and symptoms of insufficient hormone secretion. When the non-functional tumor grows and the normal pituitary tissue is destroyed, amenorrhea occurs due to the decrease in gonadotropin secretion. Infertility or impotence often occurs first and is more common.

The treatment of pituitary tumors mainly includes surgery, drugs and radiotherapy. Because there is no method that can achieve the goal of complete cure, various treatment methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. An individualized treatment plan should be formulated based on the size of the patient's pituitary tumor, hormone secretion, complications and comorbidities, the patient's age, whether there is a desire to have children, and the patient's financial situation.

At present, the treatment of pituitary tumors is still mainly surgery, supplemented by drug therapy and radiotherapy. Pituitary tumors are located in the sellar region, surrounded by important neural structures such as the optic nerve, internal carotid artery, and hypothalamus, so surgery still has certain risks. The current surgical methods include transsphenoidal, craniotomy, and gamma knife. Tumors with a diameter greater than 3 cm and adhesion to the optic nerve or visual impairment can be treated surgically first. The surgery must achieve sufficient decompression of the optic nerve, and then gamma knife treatment can be performed after surgery. However, recurrence is still possible after surgery, so regular follow-up is required.

Pituitary tumor surgery can affect the posterior pituitary gland, which can easily lead to insufficient secretion of posterior pituitary hormone after surgery, which can lead to increased urine volume and even diabetes insipidus. Other complications include hypothalamic reaction, optic nerve damage, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, etc. Some invasive pituitary tumors are very prone to recurrence. Patients need to be reexamined three days, one month, three months, six months, and one year after surgery to observe the dynamic changes in the surgical area and evaluate the efficacy of the surgery.