Pituitary gland lobe synthesizes and secretes melanocyte-stimulating hormone. The posterior pituitary (or neurohypophysis) is a lobe of the gland that is functionally connected to the hypothalamus by the median eminence via a small tube called the pituitary stalk (also called the infundibular stalk or the infundibulum). Hormones secreted from the pituitary gland help in controlling growth, blood pressure, energy management, all functions of the sex organs, thyroid glands and metabolism as well as some aspects of pregnancy, childbirth, nursing, water/salt concentration at the kidneys, temperature regulation and pain relief. The pituitary gland, in humans, is a pea-sized gland that sits in a
Pituitary apoplexy from a Rathke's cleft cyst, a remnant of Rathke's pouch that normally regresses after embryological development, may cause symptoms that are indistinguishable from pituitary apoplexy. Pituitary apoplexy is regarded by some as distinct from Sheehan's syndrome, where the pituitary undergoes infarction as a result of prolonged very low blood pressure, particularly when caused by bleeding after childbirth. This condition usually occurs in the absence of a tumor. Others regard Sheehan's syndrome as a form of pituitary apoplexy. The pituitary gland is located in a recess in the skull base known as the sella turcica ("Turkish saddle", after its shape). It