Pituitary tumors: coping with 'cured' pituitary tumors.

摘要

Patients with pituitary tumors might present with hormone overproduction (growth hormone in those with acrome-galy or adrenocorticotropic hormone and subsequent hypercortisolism in patients with Cushing disease) and/or mass effects. These mass effects are particularly prevalent in patients with nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenomas (NFMAs) and result in visual-field defects and hypopituitarism. The current neurosurgical expertise and available drugs can normalize vision and hormone hypersecretion, and substitution therapy can be prescribed for patients with hypopituitarism. So after successful treatment, are these patients cured and therefore healthy? The Collins English Dictionary defines health as "the state of being bodily and mentally vigorous and free from disease". In the experience of Tiemensma et al., patients who are treated for pituitary tumors do not seem to be achieving this definition of health.