Pituitary adenoma

What it means

A benign epithelial tumor derived from intrinsic cells of the adenohypophysis (anterior pituitary).

In most cases pituitary adenoma are histologically benign, slow-growing, small neoplasms confined to the sella turcica. Some pituitary adenomas are more aggressive, grow faster, invade surrounding tissues, and cause local symptoms such as visual disturbances, headache, and varying degrees of hypopituitarism. Pituitary adenoma can be described as microadenoma, macroadenoma, and giant tumors based on size. Microadenoma is a tumor less than 10 mm, while macroadenoma describes a tumor larger than 10mm. Giant pituitary tumors are bigger than 40 mm.

Rare diseases that can present with this21

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions, and Orphanet separately records 1 disease where this sign is specifically absent. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Noncancerous tumour in pituitary gland · Pituitary gland adenoma