Pituitary adenoma: symptoms in women, treatment, prognosis, effects, photo. Causes and signs of pituitary adenoma in women

The anterior part of the pituitary gland of the brain affects the formation of benign education in women, which is called the pituitary adenoma. Symptoms in women, treatment, prognosis and possible consequences of this serious disease require detailed consideration.

What is the pituitary adenoma?

The pituitary gland itself is a vital gland, the state of which is directly proportional to the balanced hormonal background of the human body. This is one of the most common diseases in the brain tissues. The adenoma of the pituitary gland is detected in 10 cases from 100 different types of initial tumors. In addition, the statistics are not encouraging: 20% of women who have passed the 30-year-old line, suffer from pathological manifestations of the pituitary gland in various forms.

Predominantly adenomas are a variety of tumors that do not have morphological signs of cancer. Nevertheless, without the necessary treatment, the probability of the degeneration of adenoma into a malignant tumor is quite high. However, it can deliver more danger to the neighboring brain regions. They are at risk of being squeezed by neoplasms prone to germination, which usually leads to endocrine disorders, neurologic complications, hearing and visual impairment.

Causes and at-risk groups in women

Despite certain medical advances, modern researchers can not accurately determine the reasons why an adenoma of the pituitary gland arises. Symptoms in women caused by this pathology can help in determining the sources of the disease and narrow the range of provoking risk factors in each specific case.

Some scientists believe that unnatural proliferation of glandular tissue occurs because of low productivity of the peripheral parts of the endocrine system of the body or with increased production of hormones by the hypothalamus. It follows that the causes of pituitary adenoma in women have a diverse nature of origin, and the most common and reliable doctors include such:

• suffered intracranial lesions( concussions, bruises, hemorrhages);
• Infectious diseases affecting the CNS( meningitis, poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, encephalitis, syphilis, etc.);
• complications of the intrauterine period;
• regular intake of oral hormonal contraceptives;
• Radiation exposure;
• Change in the structure of DNA at the genetic level.

Often, not only women, but also men who have a hereditary predisposition or at least one of the above diseases that stimulate the appearance of a tumor, are at risk. In this case, the adenoma of the pituitary gland in women( which is what many people who have encountered this problem in life know) are often provoked by neoplasia, which is firmly entrenched in several generations of the same family. Cases of development of this disease in children before adolescence are almost not found.

Classification of tumors

A variety of symptoms are all benign tumors developing in the brain regions, including adenoma of the pituitary gland. Symptoms in women are manifested depending on the species belonging to the disease, which are divided by such basic criteria:

• type of adenoma - functional( producing hormones) or nonfunctional( passive);
• tumor size - macroadenomas( more than 10 mm) and microadenomas( up to 10 mm).

Manifestations of nonfunctional tumors directly depend on the size of the pituitary adenoma. Symptoms in women, treatment, prognosis of similar brain diseases depend on the degree of tumor growth. A large tumor has a strong compressive effect not only on the gland itself, but also on other nearby structures of the brain. The severity of pathological phenomena is determined by the degree of neoplasm pressure.

The functionally active tumor of the pituitary gland can also increase in diameter. In this case, the patient is threatened with complications simultaneously from hormonal excess and symptoms associated with squeezing an enlarged tumor.

Non-functional macroadenomas

Symptoms of adenoma of the pituitary gland in women that are characteristic of non-functional type of tumors( more than 1 cm):

• There are difficulties in determining and perceiving colors, shades;all visible objects seem to be sick with expressionless and dimmed.
• Visual acuity is lost, as a growing tumor, striving forward, touches the optic nerve. The surrounding objects become blurred for the patient, as if with erased edges.
• The ability to view with side vision is lost. In this case, the loss of peripheral vision can be detected only with a complex form of the disease.

The effect of the tumor on the pituitary

Another important fact is that benign formation, reaching a certain limiting value, may interfere with the pituitary gland's performance of its natural functions, which often leads to hypophysial insufficiency. In addition, patients should pay attention to the nature, frequency and frequency of the symptoms that causes adenoma of the pituitary gland in women. The consequences of the disease in pituitary insufficiency are different in each individual case. Often, women do not even pay special attention to the following symptoms:

• infertility( this diagnosis is made due to an intensive decline in sex hormones produced);
• hypothyroidism( worsening or total absence of appetite, uncharacteristic fatigue, weight gain, absent-mindedness);
• irregular menstrual cycle( changes in the manifestation of menstruation, decrease in secretions and duration of flow);
• adrenal insufficiency( decreased production of the hormone cortisol);
• galactorrhea( with breastfeeding).

Symptoms of functional adenoma

Symptoms of the disease manifest themselves depending on the cells from which the functional active pituitary adenoma was formed. Symptoms in women, treatment, prognosis and chances for successful recovery depend on what hormone is produced in excess. It should be noted that when performing diagnostics by physicians most often nonfunctional neoplasms are detected. Hormonal-active tumors of the pituitary gland manifest themselves as follows:

• an increase in thyroid-stimulating hormone;
• increased adrenocorticotropic hormone;
• increased prolactin;
• increase in growth hormone.

The inconvenience and discomfort most often causes patients to have the last sign of the present disease, which can cause the hormone-active adenoma of the pituitary gland. Symptoms in women( photos are presented for clarity) with increased production of growth hormone are manifested in a marked increase in arms and legs.

Peculiarities and methods of treatment of pituitary adenoma

The main principle on which the whole treatment process is based is not only to have a positive effect on benign neoplasm, but also to eliminate side effects and negative consequences of the tumor.

For many cancers of non-cancerous nature( such as adenoma of the pituitary gland in women), medication-based treatment can be quite effective. However, this only applies to pathologies identified in the early stages of development.

In most cases, this treatment method involves the use of drugs that block receptors for the perception of growth hormone. To more complex treatment options include radio-surgery and neurosurgery. Radiosurgical intervention is optimal only as a last resort and is used when the surgical process is inadequate.

Surgical treatment of the disease

The neurosurgical operation takes about two hours. Penetration into the skull is through the nasal passage. Using a specially designed microscope and other necessary tools, the surgeon reaches the pituitary gland. Upon completion of the operation, the patient will be under supervision of specialists in the intensive care unit for about 24 hours. The next day, in case of successful operation and a satisfactory reaction of the body, the patient will be transferred to the general ward. Eating during the first day is contraindicated, but at the end of the first day it is allowed to drink water in small sips, then try to get up and walk. As a rule, the treatment of most of these diseases with the help of neurosurgical intervention is completed safely and is characterized by a rapid rehabilitation period. The adenoma of the pituitary gland is not an exception. Symptoms in women, whose treatment was performed surgically, may have a post-operation character and be expressed for a time dizziness, nausea.

Consequences of removal of adenoma of the pituitary gland

The chances of recovery are primarily related to how large the pituitary adenoma was. Symptoms in women, treatment, a prognosis for recovery, possible consequences - all this depends on the size of the tumor. To create the plan of rehabilitation measures as accurately as possible and to objectively evaluate the possibility of recovery, fresh clinical indicators obtained as a result of the repeated examination will allow. A significant role here is played by the conclusions of the surgeon, ophthalmologist and endocrinologist, necessary for drawing up a full picture of the patient's condition.

Forecast for rehabilitation

Again referring to the statistics, you can see that the adenoma of the pituitary gland in women can be fully recovered in 85 patients out of a hundred. A full restoration of visual abilities depends on how long the organs of vision have undergone damage. With a short duration of the disease, the chances of recovery are high enough, but the visual function is unlikely to be fully recovered in the case of a prolonged course of such a disease as an adenoma of the pituitary gland in women. Whatever it means, the only task of the surgeon can be considered preservation of vision, at least at the level at which treatment was started.