Pituitary stalk Pituitary stalk The pituitary stalk (also known as the infundibular stalk, Fenderson's funnel, or simply the infundibulum) is the connection between the hypothalamus and the posterior pituitary. The floor of the third ventricle is prolonged downward as a funnel-shaped recess—the infundibular recess—into the infundibulum, where the apex of the pituitary is attached. It passes through the dura mater of the diaphragma sellae as it carries axons from the magnocellular neurosecretory cells of the hypothalamus down to the posterior pituitary where they release their neurohypophysial hormones, oxytocin and vasopressin, into the blood. This connection is called the hypothalamo-hypophyseal tract or hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal
Pituitary apoplexy in association with particular conditions and situations; it is uncertain whether these were in fact causative. Amongst reported associations are surgery (especially coronary artery bypass graft, where there are significant fluctuations in the blood pressure), disturbances in blood coagulation or medication that inhibits coagulation, radiation therapy to the pituitary, traumatic brain injury, pregnancy (during which the pituitary enlarges) and treatment with estrogens. Hormonal stimulation tests of the pituitary have been reported to provoke episodes. Treatment of prolactinomas (pituitary adenomas that secrete prolactin) with dopamine agonist drugs, as well as withdrawal of such treatment, has been reported to precipitate apoplexy. Hemorrhage