Guerin: Pituitary Flashcards
What is the most common cause of hyperpituitarism ?
anterior lobe pituitary adenoma
What is the difference between a macro and micro adenoma?
> or < 1cm in diameter
What are functioning adenomas associated with?
distinct endocrine signs and symptoms
What do nonfunctioning adenomas presnt with?
mass effects, including visual disturbances
What are lactotroph adenomas
- secrete prolactin
- can present with amenorrhea, galactorrhea, loss of libido, and infertility
What is a somatotroph adenoma
- secretes GH
- presents with gigantism in children and acromegaly inadults; also with impaired glucose tolerance and diabete mellitus
What is corticotroph adenoma?
-secretes ACTH and presents with cushing syndrome and hpyperigmentation
What are the distinct morphologic features of most adenomas?
- their cellular monomorphism and…
* *absence of reticulin network**
What is hypopopituitarism typically?
a destructive process of the anterior pituitary
-When combined with diabetes insipidus, think hypothalamic problem
What is pituitary apoplexy?
-a sudden hemorrhage into the pituitary gland (often an adenoma) and is a neurosurgical emergency
What is Sheehan syndrome?
-results from postpartum necrosis of the anterior pituitary
What do the clinically relevant posterior pituitary syndromes involve?
- ADH!
- Diabetes insipidus… too low
- SIADH…. too high
Which part of the pituitary is just an extension of the hypothalamus?
Post pit
What are the things that the hypothalamus secretes?
- TRH
- PIF (dopamine)
- CRH
- GHRH
- GIH (somatostatin)
- GnRH
Which hormones are carried via portal vascular system?
- TRH… TSH
- PIF….PRL
- CRH….ACTH
What are the anterior pituitary cell types and what do they secrete?
- somatotrophs… GH
- mammosomatotrophs…. GH and PRL
- Lactotrophs…. PRL
- Corticotrophs…. ACTH and POMC and MSH
- Thyrotrophs… TSH
- Gonadotrophs…. FSH and LH
What are the 2 hormones that the post pit makes?
- Oxytocin
- ADH
What does Oxytocin do?
- stimulates uterine contractions
- stimulates smooth muscle around lactiferous ducts
What does ADH do?
- vasopressin
- conserve water
Where are the hormones that the post pit secretes made?
Hypothalamus
-stored in axon terminals
What is the visual effect of a pituitary tumor?
-bitemporal hemianopsia
What are the signs of elevated intracranial pressure?
- headache
- nausea
- vomiting
What was bolded and bigger on the slide labeled “hyperpitutitarism”?
- Pituitary adenomas
- if non-functional, can cause hypopituitarism
What is a pituitary adenoma?
- functional
- adults
- micro is <1cm and macro is >1cm
- Atypical adenomas: more likely to behave aggressively (invasive, recur)
what does a typical pituitary adenoma look like?
- soft and well-circumscribed
- when small, confined to the sella turcica
- as they expand, they erode the sella turcica nad anterior clinoid processes
- larger ones extend superiorly and often compress the optic chiasm and adjacent structures (like cranial nerves)
What will tell us that it is an adenoma as opposed to normal? (histology)
-monomorphism and the absence of a significant reticulin
What is the mutation in the G-protein signaling that renders the alpha subunit active all the time?
-GNAS
Lactotroph adenoma
- most frequent type of hyperfunctioning pituitary adenoma- 30% of all clinically recognized cases
- Secrete prolactin
- range from small micradenomas to large tumors with mass effect
Clinical course of prolactinemia
- amenorrhea, galactorrhea, loss of libido, and infertility
- in men and postmenopausal women, it may be subtle
When is it normal to have hyperprolactinemia?
- preggo
- nipple stimulation
- response to many types of stress
What is hyperprolactinemia pathologic?
- loss of dopamine mediated inhibition of prolactin (hypothalamus secretes dopamine)
- damage of pituitary stalk (trauma)
- drugs that block dopamine receptors on lactotroph cells
- any mass in the suprasellar compartment may interfere with inhibitory effect of hypothalamus on prolactin secretion
Lactotroph adenoma treatment?
- bromocriptine
- surgery
What is bromocriptine?
a dopamine receptor agonist that cuases the lesions to diminish in size
What is the second most common type of functioning pituitary adenoma?
Somatotroph adenomas
what do somatotroph adenomas secrete?
GH
- stimulates hepatic secretion of IGF1
- Gigantism in children
- Acromegaly in adults