How to diagnose pituitary tumor

Since many families have only one child and the family burden is heavy, they cherish their lives more. I have heard that pituitary tumors occur in the brain and the early symptoms are frequent headaches. Some people think that they match those symptoms and want to go to the hospital for examination, but they don’t know how the hospital diagnoses pituitary tumors?

1. The early symptoms of pituitary tumor patients are often mild and easily missed or misdiagnosed. For example, non-functional pituitary tumors in the elderly lead to hypopituitarism and decreased vision; pituitary adenomas in children and adolescents cause decreased vision or growth retardation; male prolactin adenomas cause impotence; female prolactin adenomas cause menstrual disorders, etc. This requires the attention of not only neurosurgeons and endocrinologists, but also related departments such as ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynecology, and the differential diagnosis of related diseases and pituitary adenomas should be strengthened in various departments. Among them, MRI examinations and endocrine hormone determination are important means to improve the early diagnosis of pituitary tumors.

2. For patients with typical clinical symptoms, endocrine and imaging examinations, it is not difficult to diagnose pituitary tumors. For example, if the patient has amenorrhea, lactation, and significantly increased prolactin, and MRI shows that the tumor is 2 cm in diameter, the diagnosis is a macroprolactinoma of the pituitary gland. If the patient has acromegaly, diabetes, increased serum growth hormone, and MRI shows that the pituitary gland is enlarged, the diagnosis of growth hormone adenoma is clear. If the patient has visual impairment, bilateral temporal hemianopsia of the visual field, low levels of adrenal, gonadal, and thyroid hormones, and no abnormal increase in prolactin and growth hormone, and MRI shows that the tumor is 4 cm, the diagnosis is a non-functional giant pituitary adenoma.

If you feel that your symptoms are somewhat consistent with a pituitary tumor, you can go to the hospital for a detailed examination and let the doctor give you professional guidance so that any problems can be resolved in a timely manner.