Pituitary adenoma

Pituitary adenoma (PA) is a common pituitary tumor that arise from the adenohypophysis, in the pituitary gland.

Epidemiology

Pituitary adenoma epidemiology.

Classification

see Pituitary adenoma classification.

Natural History

see Pituitary adenoma Natural History.

Clinical features

see Pituitary adenoma clinical features.

Diagnosis

MRI is commonly used in the evaluation of pituitary adenomas (PAs). However, it has difficulty to locate the lesions sometimes, especially microadenomas and/or postoperative recurrent tumors.

Positron emission tomography/CT may be useful to detect tumors in patients with equivocal MRI results.

11C methionine positron emission tomography PET/CT can provide valuable diagnostic information when F-FDG PET/CT yields negative results, especially in patients with recurrent microadenomas ¹⁾.

Treatment

see Pituitary adenoma treatment.

Outcome

Although they are considered benign tumors, some of them are difficult to treat due to their tendency to recur despite standardized treatment. Functional tumors present other challenges for normalizing their biochemical activity. Novel approaches for early diagnosis, as well as different perspectives on classification, may help to identify subgroups of patients with similar characteristics, creating opportunities to match each patient with the best personalized treatment option ²⁾.

Recurrence

see Pituitary adenoma recurrence.

Case series

see Pituitary adenoma case series.