How to Deal Pituitary Adenomas: A Retro prospective Study

Abstract

Pituitary adenoma (PA) is a benign primary tumor that arises from the pituitary gland and is associated with ophthalmological, neurological and endocrinological abnormalities. However, causes that increase tumor progressing recurrence and invasiveness are still undetermined. Most adenomas are benign, approximately 35% are invasive and just 0.1% to 0.2% are carcinomas.Pituitary adenomas represent from 10% to 25% of all intracranial neoplasms and the estimated prevalence rate in the general population is approximately 17% Non-invasive and non-secreting pituitary adenomas are considered to be benign in the literal as well as the clinical sense; however a recent meta-analysis of available research has shown there are to date scant studies – of poor quality – to either support or refute this assumption. Etiology Adenomas which exceed 10 millimetres (0.39 in) in size are defined as macroadenomas, with those smaller than 10 mm referred to as microadenomas. Most pituitary adenomas are microadenomas, and have an estimated prevalence of 16.7% (14.4% in autopsy studies and 22.5% in radiologic studies). A majority of pituitary microadenomas often remain undiagnosed and those that are diagnosed are often found as an incidental finding, and are referred to as incidentalomas. Pituitary macroadenomas are the most common cause of hypopituitarism, and in the majority of cases they are non-secreting adenomas.While pituitary adenomas are common, affecting approximately one in 6 of the general population, clinically active pituitary adenomas that require surgical treatment are more rare, affecting approximately one in 1000 of the general population.