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Pituitary Gland Clinic

Introduction of department
Pituitary adenoma
  • Pituitary adenoma refers to benign tumors in the pituitary, accounting for about 10% of all brain tumors, and it occurs in 0.4 to 18.7 people per 100,000 people according to U.S. statistics.

    Statistics in Korea have not yet been published, but the overall prevalence of pituitary adenomas is increasing due to the number of early detection of pituitary adenomas is also increasing with more head MRI and other imaging than before. Moreover, since collaboration between neurosurgery, otolaryngology, and endocrine medicine is often required, the ripple effect of a single disease is large.
Symptoms

  • 1
    Hormonal symptoms
    · Prolactinoma

    Women can have decreased menstruation, delayed first menstruation, amenorrhea, galactorrhea, infertility, and early menopause. Men can have low libido and erectile dysfunction.

    · Acromegaly

    It is caused by the secretion of growth hormone by pituitary adenoma. It is a disease that causes abnormal enlargement of the ends of the human body, such as hands, feet, jaws, nose, ears, and tongue, and is also called giant disease.


    2
    Cushing disease (secretion of the Adrenocorticotropin hormone)
    Glucocorticoid is an adrenocorticotropic hormone produced by the adrenal cortex. It acts on connective tissue, bone, calcium metabolism, growth and development, hematopoietic organs, effects of the immune system, cardiovascular and central nervous systems, and if it is insufficient, blood pressure and consciousness can decreases. In particular, a case in which a lot of glycocorticoid secretion is caused by pituitary adenoma is diagnosed as Cushing's disease, and the following symptoms occur.
      · Weight gain (mainly on the chest and stomach but limbs get slimmer) · Redness and roundness (moon face) · Fat builds up between the scapula just below neck (buffalo hump deformity) · Increased hair on the face and body · Red purple lines appear on the belly, thighs, and arms · Getting bruise on limbs easily · Atrophy and loss of muscle strength on arm and leg muscles · Thin skin and acne · Irregular menstrual cycles or amenorrhea · Depression and severe emotional changes

    3
    Pituitary apoplexy
    Pituitary apoplexy refers to a clinical syndrome in which the pituitary gland rapidly expands due to sudden infarction or bleeding in pituitary adenoma, causing headaches, vomiting, loss of vision, eye movement disorders, and loss of consciousness by pressing on surrounding tissues. The mechanism of occurrence is not well known, but it is presumed that the growth of the tumor exceeds the supply of blood flow, resulting in bleeding along with tissue necrosis, and direct compression of blood vessels caused by the tumor, vascular abnormalities of the tumor itself, and aneurysm in the tumor have also been reported.
    If pituitary apoplexy is suspected, head CT or MRI should be taken as soon as possible, and if it is diagnosed, the tumor should be removed by emergency surgery and hormone treatment for pituitary function resistance should be performed.

Treatment

  • Pituitary adenomas are divided into functional and nonfunctional adenomas according to their size (<1cm) and cataract adenomas (>1cm) and clinical classification, and treatment varies accordingly.

      · Follow-up observation

      If the adenoma is small sized or nonfunctional adenoma, and the patient does not have neurological symptoms.

      · Medication

      In the case of functional adenoma, drug treatment may be preceded. Typical example for this is prolactinoma.

      · Surgical treatment

      In the past, cranial surgery was performed, but in recent years, most cases are operated with the transsphenoid approach, and it can be divided into the microscopic and the intracranial.

      · Radiation surgery & treatment

      In Korea, it cannot be used as an initial treatment. It can be performed when it is diagnosed histologically, and a residual tumor or recurrence is detected after surgery. Kyungpook National University Hospital is performing gamma-knife radiation surgery.

DOCTOR LIST

  • Hur, Seongje
    • Department
      • Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Pediatric ENT, Pituitary Gland Clinic
    • Specialty
        1. Nose(Snoring, sleep apnea, nasal congestion, sinusitis, rhinitis, tonsil disease, nasal plastic surgery, basal tumors)
  • Park, Kisoo
    • Department
      • Neurosurgery, Brain Tumor Clinic, Pituitary Gland Clinic, Hydrocephalus Clinic
    • Specialty
        1. Brain tumor (brain endoscopic surgery), pituitary gland disease, cerebrovascular disease, head trauma, gamma knife radiosurgery 
  • Jeon, Jae-Han
    • Department
      • Endocrinology and Metabolism, Bariatric Clinic, Pituitary Gland Clinic
    • Specialty
        1. Diabetes, thyroid disease, osteoporosis, adrenal gland disease, other endocrine diseases, obesity metabolism clinic, pituitary gland clinic