Pituitary apoplexy

What it is

A rare pituitary disease characterized by hemorrhagic or non-hemorrhagic necrosis of the pituitary gland. Clinical manifestations typically comprise sudden and severe headache (often with nausea and vomiting), visual disturbances (visual-field defects, loss of visual acuity), oculomotor palsies, and variable degrees of altered consciousness, ranging from lethargy to coma. Acute endocrine dysfunction may also be present, most commonly corticotropic deficiency with severe hypotension and hyponatremia as well as secondary adrenal failure, but also thyrotropic and gonadotropic deficiency.

Key facts

Age of onset

All ages

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Disease

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Benefit programs to look at

Programs whose eligibility touches the same ICD-10 categories. Eligibility is decided by the administering agency, never by this page.

Cross-references