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Complications
By Mayo Clinic staff
Pituitary tumors usually don't grow or spread extensively. However, they can adversely affect your health, possibly causing:
- Vision loss. A pituitary tumor can put pressure on the optic nerves, which are close to your pituitary gland, and cause loss of vision.
- Permanent hormone deficiency. The presence of a pituitary tumor or the removal of one may permanently alter your hormone supply, which may need to be replaced with hormone medications.
- Sudden bleeding into the tumor (pituitary apoplexy). A rare but potentially serious complication of a pituitary tumor is pituitary apoplexy. This is usually accompanied by a sudden, severe headache, sudden vision problems — including vision loss, double vision and drooping of an eyelid — and symptoms of low pituitary hormone production (hypopituitarism), such as lightheadedness, vomiting, cold intolerance, excessive thirst and fatigue. Pituitary apoplexy requires emergency treatment, usually with corticosteroids and possibly surgery.
- Diabetes insipidus. This is a possible complication of a large pituitary tumor or of some treatments for pituitary tumors. Not to be confused with the more common diabetes mellitus, which involves high sugar levels in the blood and urine, diabetes insipidus is the result of the pituitary making too little vasopressin, which controls the concentration of urine in the kidneys. Diabetes insipidus causes excess amounts of urine and severe thirst, which can lead to dehydration.
References
- Pituitary tumors information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/pituitary_tumors/pituitary_tumors.htm. Accessed April 15, 2010.
- Pituitary tumors. American Cancer Society. http://documents.cancer.org/6028.00/6028.00.pdf. Accessed April 15, 2010.
- Pituitary tumors. American Brain Tumor Association. http://www.abta.org/Tumor_&_Treatment_Info/Pituitary_Tumors/233. Accessed April 15, 2010.
- Pituitary Tumors Treatment. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdq/treatment/pituitary. Accessed April 15, 2010.
- Semple PL, et al. Pituitary apoplexy. Neurosurgery. 2005;56:65.
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