Imaging of pituitary disease

1. The mainstay of initial evaluation of possible pituitary disease is with MR. Sagittal and coronal images offer the best visualization of tumors and their effect on adjacent important structures like the carotid artery and optic chiasm.

2. CT can be used instead of MR for pituitary imaging in patients for whom MR is not appropriate, but will generally not show the neural structures as well.

3. The most common pituitary lesion is a benign adenoma, which may secrete various hormones (TSH, ACTH, prolactin, growth hormone) or may be nonfunctioning.

3. The most common functioning adenoma of the pituitary secretes prolactin and can produce galactorrhea.

4. Symptoms of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas may occur due to pressure on adjacent structures, if they are large. Many adenomas are small and are sometimes called 'microadenomas'.

 

Click the link below to review the ACR recommendations for these situations.

neuroendocrine