Pituitary gland protective bony enclosure called the sella turcica. It is composed of three lobes: anterior, intermediate, and posterior. In many animals, these three lobes are distinct.The intermediate is avascular and almost absent in human beings. The intermediate lobe is present in many lower animal species, in particular in rodents, mice and rats, that have been used extensively to study pituitary development and function. In all animals, the fleshy, glandular anterior pituitary is distinct from the neural composition of the posterior pituitary, which is an extension of the hypothalamus. The anterior pituitary arises from an invagination of the oral ectoderm and forms
Pituitary apoplexy brain and the spinal cord; the sample is obtained with a needle that is passed under local anesthetic into the spine. In pituitary apoplexy the results are typically normal, although abnormalities may be detected if blood from the pituitary has entered the subarachnoid space. If there is remaining doubt about the possibility of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a magnetic resonance angiogram (MRI with a contrast agent) may be required to identify aneurysms of the brain blood vessels, the most common cause of SAH. Professional guidelines recommend that if pituitary apoplexy is suspected or confirmed, the minimal blood tests performed should include