title: Review: Pituitary adenomas in children and adolescents.
abstract: Clinical manifestations and outcomes of pituitary adenomas in children are not clearly defined. We retrospectively reviewed cases of pituitary adenomas in children 0-18 years treated at MassGeneral Hospital for Children over 15 years. Thirty-five patients were identified. Age at presentation was 7-18 years. Seventeen had prolactinomas, 3 had somatotropinomas, and 15 had Cushing disease. Thirteen prolactinoma patients were female and most commonly presented with oligomenorrhea (10/13) and galactorrhea (7/13). Nine were successfully treated medically. Two somatotropinoma patients presented with visual disturbances; the third was an incidental finding. Two were cured by trans-sphenoidal surgery (TSS). Thirteen Cushing disease patients were initially cured by TSS; six recurred after 3-6 years. Patients with or without recurrence did not differ for age, tumor-size and hormone levels. The high recurrence rate of Cushing disease in our series (46%) compared with adults treated surgically at this institution (7%) emphasizes the need for long-term follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Endocrine Unit, MassGeneral Hospital for Children and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Paravee
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Katavetin
authors.forename: Pornsuk
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cheunsuchon
authors.forename: Brooke
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Swearingen
authors.forename: E Tessa
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Hedley-Whyte
authors.forename: Madhusmita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.forename: Lynne L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Levitsky
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D049912:Growth Hormone-Secreting Pituitary Adenoma / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D047748:Pituitary ACTH Hypersecretion / Q000473:pathology; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D015175:Prolactinoma / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies