What are the effects of pituitary tumors

Although pituitary tumors are benign tumors that occur on the pituitary gland, we should not underestimate them. After all, pituitary tumors can cause a lot of harm, and most pituitary tumors occur in young people, seriously affecting their growth and development, and even their fertility. So we should pay attention to it. So what are the specific effects of pituitary tumors?

1. Headache: About 2/3 of pituitary tumor patients have headaches in the early stage. The pain is mainly located behind the eye sockets, in the forehead and near the temples on both sides. The degree is mild and the attacks are intermittent. Because the pituitary tumor originates from the sella turcica at the base of the skull, the sella turcica is surrounded by closed bones, and only the top is covered by the tough sellar diaphragm. The direct stimulation or growth of the tumor causes the increase of the sellar pressure and causes headaches. When the tumor grows upward and breaks through the sellar diaphragm, the sellar pressure decreases, and the pain can be reduced or disappear. Patients often feel a sudden severe headache, and the pain is significantly reduced or relieved, but if it is not treated, the pain will reappear as the tumor grows.

2. Decreased vision and visual field defects: Pituitary tumors can break through the sella turcica floor and grow downward, and invade important blood vessels and nerves in the skull to both sides. However, the most common way of growth is to develop above the sella turcica and compress the optic chiasm and optic nerve, causing decreased vision and visual field defects. Patients often complain of decreased vision, inability to see to both sides, and always banging their heads against the door. If visual and visual impairment occurs, surgery is required as soon as possible to relieve the pressure on the optic nerve and save vision. If accompanied by growth in other directions, it is called an invasive pituitary adenoma, and the difficulty of treatment is significantly increased. It is difficult to remove it in one go, and individualized treatment is required for specific situations.

3. Menstrual disorders, lactation and infertility: Prolactin adenomas account for more than half of pituitary tumors clinically. Due to the influence of high prolactin secretion and the reduction of estrogen, female patients often show a significant decrease in menstrual volume and lactation (underwear in contact with the nipples becomes wet), which then leads to amenorrhea and infertility, which has a great impact on physical and mental health and family life. However, if you can go to the neurosurgery department for treatment in time, it is still very easy to be discovered early. This requires medical workers in obstetrics and gynecology and infertility hospitals to improve their understanding of pituitary tumors and guide patients to receive correct treatment.

4. Low sexual function: The main complaint of this type of patients is that they have no desire to have sex with their wives no matter how long they have not had sex, or they say that they are not interested in sex at all, and only have sex occasionally when their wives actively ask for it. Low sexual function is one of the clinical manifestations of early pituitary tumors.

5. Changes in face, limbs and body shape: Growth hormone-type pituitary tumors secrete too much growth hormone, which leads to excessive growth of limbs, muscles and internal organs. Before the epiphyses fuse in puberty, they manifest as gigantism. In adults, they manifest as enlarged hands and feet (shoe size gradually increases), wide head and face, high cheekbones, enlarged nose, thickened lips, loose, coarse and black skin, increased hair, hoarseness, snoring during sleep and sleep apnea syndrome. Adrenocorticotropic hormone adenoma has abnormal fat metabolism and distribution, and fat accumulates in the chest, abdomen and buttocks, while the limbs are relatively thin, showing "central obesity", the face is full moon-shaped, the weight increases significantly, and the subcutaneous blood vessels of the limbs are exposed and purple lines appear. These two types of pituitary tumors seriously affect a person's external image and should be actively treated. Growth hormone-type pituitary adenoma generally has obvious effects a few days after surgery. Patients feel that their limbs and face are smaller, their skin becomes delicate and smooth, and their sleep quality is significantly improved.

Knowing the impact of pituitary tumors, patients should receive timely diagnosis and treatment once they are diagnosed with pituitary tumors to prevent the disease from getting worse.