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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffIf your doctor suspects a pituitary disorder, he or she will likely order several tests to check levels of various hormones in your body. Your doctor may also want to check for hypopituitarism if you've had a recent head injury that might have put you at risk of damage to your pituitary gland.
Tests your doctor may order include:
- Blood tests. They can help detect deficits in hormones as a result of pituitary failure. For example, blood tests can identify low levels of thyroid, adrenal or sex hormones, and can determine if these low levels are associated with inadequate pituitary hormone production.
- Stimulation or dynamic testing. Your doctor may suggest you go to a specialized endocrine clinic for these tests, which check your body's secretion of hormones after you've taken certain medications that can stimulate hormone production.
- Brain imaging. A computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of your brain can detect a pituitary tumor or other structural abnormality.
- Vision tests. These tests can determine if growth of a pituitary tumor has impaired your sight or visual fields.
- X-ray. In children, an X-ray of the hand and wrist can measure whether the bones are growing normally.
- Generalized hypopituitarism. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec12/ch151/ch151c.html. Accessed July 22, 2010.
- Snyder PJ. Clinical manifestations of hypopituitarism. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 7, 2010.
- Snyder PJ. Causes of hypopituitarism. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 7, 2010.
- Snyder PJ. Treatment of hypopituitarism. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 7, 2010.
- Growth disorders treatment options. The Hormone Foundation. http://www.hormone.org/Growth/treatment.cfm. Accessed July 22, 2010.
- Aron DC, et al. Hypothalamus & pituitary gland. In: Gardner GD, et al. Greenspan's Basic and Clinical Endocrinology. 8th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill; 2007. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=2628445. Accessed July 22, 2010.
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