Anterior pituitary cascading physiological responses. Hormone secretion from the anterior pituitary gland is regulated by hormones secreted by the hypothalamus. Neuroendocrine cells in the hypothalamus project axons to the median eminence, at the base of the brain. At this site, these cells can release substances into small blood vessels that travel directly to the anterior pituitary gland (the hypothalamo-hypophyseal portal vessels). Aside from hypothalamic control of the anterior pituitary, other systems in the body have been shown to regulate the anterior pituitary’s function. GABA can either stimulate or inhibit the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) and can stimulate
Pituitary adenoma neuroimaging should be performed as well follow-up visual field examinations for incidentalomas that abut or compress the optic nerve and chiasm and follow-up endocrine testing for macroincidentalomas. An ectopic (occurring in an abnormal place) pituitary adenoma is a rare type of tumor which occurs outside of the sella turcica, most often in the sphenoid sinus, suprasellar region, nasopharynx and the cavernous sinuses. Carcinomas that metastasize into the pituitary gland are uncommon and typically seen in the elderly, with lung and breast cancers being the most prevalent, In breast cancer patients, metastases to the pituitary gland occur in approximately 6-8% of