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A 47 year-old woman developed progressive headaches and difficulty with her vision. Neurological examination revealed a bitemporal hemianopsia. |
Pituitary Macroadenoma. T1-weighted
coronal MRI. Note the large mass in the region of the sella
which is growing up into and displacing the optic chiasm. The chiasm is draped and
thinned over the mass. Surgical
resection demonstrated a large pituitary adenoma.
By definition, pituitary macroadenomas are benign tumors of the
pituitary gland that are greater than 10 mm in diameter. Similar to
microadenomas, macroadenomas may come to medical attention due to
signs and symptoms of endocrine dysfunction from excessive hormonal
production. However, in contrast to microadenomas, macroadenomas may
result in reduced hormone production of some or all of the pituitary
hormones (panhypopituitarism) as the tumor grows and compresses the
normal pituitary tissue. Macroadenomas may also result in focal
neurological signs and symptoms due to mass effect as the tumor
grows outside of the sella and compresses the optic chiasm and
hypothalamus above. Lesions of the optic chiasm classically result
in a bitemporal hemianopsia. |
Revised
11/27/06.
Copyrighted 2006. David C Preston