Diagnosis and treatment of hemorrhagic pituitary adenomas

Abstract

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical manifestations, imaging results, and surgical treatment conditions of 72 patients who were diagnosed with hemorrhagic pituitary adenoma between January 2006 and May 2009 at our Department of Neurosurgery. We reached the conclusion that the CT-positive rate was 55.17% and the MRI-positive rate was 94.44%. Sixty-six patients underwent transsphenoidal operations; 6 patients, transfrontal operations; 52, total resections; 10, subtotal resections; and 10, partial resections. All procedures alleviated patients' headaches and stopped vomiting; patients with impaired consciousness gradually became clear-headed after the operations; patients whose preoperative eyesight had been impaired improved to different degrees, and ophthalmoplegia improved. Fifty-six patients were followed, 14 were cured, 32 had alleviated symptoms but 4 did not, and 6 relapsed. Our finding suggests that MRI scanning is superior to CT scanning in the diagnosis of hemorrhagic pituitary adenomas. Surgical decompression should be performed as soon as possible, and transsphenoidal microsurgery is the optimal treatment. © 2011 Springer-Verlag/Wien.