Pituitary disease

Pituitary disease
Pituitary
Specialty	Endocrinology

A pituitary disease is a disorder primarily affecting the pituitary gland.[1]

Table

The main disorders involving the pituitary gland are:

Condition	Direction	Hormone
Acromegaly	overproduction	growth hormone
Gigantism	overproduction	growth hormone
Cushing's disease	overproduction	adrenocorticotropic hormone
Growth hormone deficiency	underproduction	growth hormone
Syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone	overproduction	vasopressin
Diabetes insipidus (can also be nephrogenic)	underproduction	vasopressin
Sheehan syndrome	underproduction	any pituitary hormone
Pickardt-Fahlbusch Syndrome	underproduction	any pituitary hormone, except prolactin, which is increased
Hyperpituitarism (most commonly pituitary adenoma)	overproduction	any pituitary hormone
Hypopituitarism	underproduction	any pituitary hormone

Overproduction or underproduction of a pituitary hormone will affect the respective end-organ. For example, insufficient production (hyposecretion) of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in the pituitary gland will cause hypothyroidism, while overproduction (hypersecretion) of TSH will cause hyperthyroidism. Thyroidisms caused by the pituitary gland are less common though, accounting for less than 10% of all hypothyroidism cases and much less than 1% of hyperthyroidism cases.[2][3]

See also

• Hypophysitis, inflammation of the pituitary gland.
• Autoimmune hypophysitis (or lymphocytic hypophysitis), inflammation of the pituitary gland due to autoimmunity.
• Nelson's syndrome, may occur after surgical removal of both adrenal glands, an out-dated method of treating Cushing's disease.
• Pituitary tumour, a tumor of the pituitary gland.
• Pituitary adenoma, a noncancerous tumor of the pituitary gland.
• Pituicytoma, a rare brain tumor.
• Pituitary apoplexy, bleeding into or impaired blood supply of the pituitary gland.

References

1. "Overview of the Pituitary Gland: Pituitary Gland Disorders: Merck Manual Home Health Handbook". Retrieved 2009-04-04.
2. Page 358 in: Aminoff, Michael J. (2007). Neurology and General Medicine: Expert Consult: Online and Print. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 978-0-443-06707-5.
3. Thyrotropin (TSH)-secreting pituitary adenomas. By Roy E Weiss and Samuel Refetoff. Last literature review version 19.1: January 2011. This topic last updated: July 2, 2009

External links