Preliminary study of "overall levels of pituitary hormone" in non-functional pituitary adenoma patients

Abstract

Objective To study the estimated value of general pituitary levels and overall levels of pituitary hormone in patients with pituitary adenoma. Methods Sixty-six patients presented with non-function pituitary adenomas, admitted to our hospital from January 2009 and April 2013, were chosen in our study. Pre- and post-operative hormonal levels and MR imaging data were collected. Patients were divided into two groups: macroadenoma (1 cm 3 cm) group, and the patients were divided into subtotal resection group (resection rate>60%) and partial resection group (resection rate<60%). Self-made scale of overall levels of pituitary hormone was performed to assess the remnant pituitary function. The levels for 6 kinds of pituitary hormones and overall levels of pituitary hormone were compared between each two groups. Results (1) The levels of 6 kinds of pituitary hormones between the macroadenoma group (n=38) and huge adenoma group (n=28) showed no significant difference before surgery (P>0.05); the per-operative overall levels of pituitary hormone were statistically different between the macroadenoma group (19.59±2.71) and huge adenoma group (18.07±2.00, P 0.05); the post-operative overall levels of pituitary hormone in the subtotal resection group were significantly higher than those in the partial resection group (P<0.05); there were 34 patients (59.6%) from subtotal resection group and 2 (22.2%) from partial resection group having one or more kinds of pituitary hormones lower than normal levels, without significant difference (P<0.05). Conclusions The overall levels of pituitary hormone , in which 6 kinds of pituitary hormones are seen as a whole, can assess the remnant pituitary function in pituitary adenoma patients more accurately than evaluation of the 6 kinds of pituitary levels separately. Key words: Pituitary adenoma; Pituitary hormone; Hypothyroidism