title: Intensity of prolactinoma on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging: towards another gender difference.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical presentations of prolactinomas are quite different between genders. In comparison with women's prolactinoma, those in men showed predominance of large tumors with high prolactin (PRL) levels. This preponderance could be attributed to a greater proliferative potential of the tumors. Differences in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal at diagnosis have not been yet clearly evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conduct a retrospective study comparing MRI signal intensity (SI) on T2-weighted images (T2-WI) between 41 men and 41 women to investigate whether or not men prolactinoma present specific features.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In addition to the size of the adenoma and PRL levels (P < 0001), prolactinomas in men also exhibit differences from those in women in signal on T2-WI on MRI (P < 0001). Women's prolactinomas are mostly of high SI on T2-WI while men's prolactinomas exhibit a more heterogeneous pattern of SI on T2-WI. Prolactinomas presenting with low SI on T2-WI are almost exclusively encountered in men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Presence of T2-WI hypointensities in pituitary adenoma can be predictive of a different subtype of prolactinoma almost encountered in men and possibly translate the presence of spherical amyloid deposits, in agreement with the literature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Hospital Sart-Tilman, Liège, Belgium, julie.kreutz@icloud.com.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kreutz
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vroonen
authors.forename: Francoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cattin
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Petrossians
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thiry
authors.forename: Liliya
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rostomyan
authors.forename: Luaba
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tshibanda
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beckers
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bonneville
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D011388:Prolactin / Q000097:blood; D015175:Prolactinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D011388:Prolactin
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