endocrine and metabolic disorders
Pituitary Lesions
Introduction
Patients with hypothalamic-pituitary lesions generally present with some combination of Symptoms and signs of a mass lesion: headaches, altered appetite, thirst, visual field defects—particularly bitemporal hemianopia or the hemifield slide phenomenon (images drifting apart) Imaging evidence of a mass lesion as an incidental finding Hypersecretion or hyposecretion of one or more pituitary hormones The most common cause of hypopituitary or hyperpituitary secretion is a pituitary or hypothalamic tumor. A tumor tends to produce an enlarged sella (sella turcica). Alternatively, an enlarged sella may represent empty sella syndrome. (Pituitary structure and function and relationships between the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland are discussed in Overview of the Endocrine System .) 