What are the diagnostic criteria for pituitary tumors in the elderly?

What are the diagnostic criteria for pituitary tumors in the elderly? Nowadays, many elderly people are also found to be a high-risk group for pituitary tumors, because many elderly people will live without timely treatment, which almost leads to life-threatening danger. But how to diagnose pituitary tumors? Today we will learn about the diagnostic criteria for pituitary tumors in the elderly.

What is the diagnosis of pituitary tumor?

1. Clinical manifestations

The patient's age, gender, symptoms after illness, and physical changes.

2. Pathological examination

This is the most reliable diagnostic method with a very low misdiagnosis rate. Pathological diagnosis is divided into ordinary section HE staining light microscopy observation, which can only be used as a gross diagnosis and cannot distinguish the type of tumor. Immunohistochemical staining, which is based on the hormones contained in tumor cells, has a high accuracy, but also a high misdiagnosis rate. Electron fluoroscopic microscopy observation, which distinguishes the tumor type based on the different characteristics of tumor cells, is rarely used in clinical practice.

3. Endocrine examination

What tests are needed for pituitary tumors? Since most pituitary tumors have the function of secreting hormones, when the clinical manifestations are not obvious and imaging cannot indicate the presence of a tumor, the hormones of the pituitary tumor have already changed. Some cases of pituitary tumors can be diagnosed simply by endocrine testing. For example, in the case of ACTH cell adenoma, the tumor cannot be seen from imaging in most cases. Rare displaced pituitary tumors are located in the chest cavity, abdominal cavity and other parts, and are mainly diagnosed based on endocrine.

4. Imaging

(1) Plain skull X-ray: This is a relatively primitive diagnostic method. It determines the presence of tumors and makes differential diagnosis based on changes in the sella turcica bone and calcification in the sella turcica.

(2) CT scans are only useful for diagnosing large pituitary tumors, as small pituitary tumors are easily missed. It cannot be used as the main tool for diagnosing pituitary tumors.

(3) MRI is the most important tool for diagnosing pituitary tumors. It can clearly show the size, shape, and relationship of the tumor with surrounding structures. Even tumors with a diameter of 2 to 3 mm can be displayed. However, the signals of some tumors are similar to those of the surrounding normal pituitary tissue, and the two are difficult to distinguish. It is necessary to combine clinical manifestations and endocrine examinations for diagnosis.