Pituitary Incidentaloma: A Tertiary Care Single Center Experience from Pakistan

Background and Objectives: With the extensive use of MRI now a days, the discovery of pituitary incidentalomas is increasing worldwide. We aimed to determine the prevalence of pituitary incidentaloma at Nishtar Hospital Multan.

Methodology: It was retrospective observational study. We retrieved post-contrast MRI-brain from the PACS system of department of Diagnostic Radiology, Nishtar Hospital Multan, Pakistan during January 2017 to December 2019 and then analyzed the films for incidental pituitary lesions.

Results: 606 MRI brains were reviewed, and 100 cases of pituitary tumors identified (16.5%). The pituitary tumors comprised of 65 cases of macroadenoma (65%) and 35 cases of microadenoma (35%). Pituitary incidentalomas were equally distributed between male and female patients. However, microadenomas were more prevalent in females and macroadenomas in males (p-value -<.0001). Males were more likely to harbor macroadenomas at later age, whereas females had a younger age of diagnosis with microadenoma.

Conclusion: In conclusion, pituitary adenomas were discovered in 1 out of 6 patients. Furthermore, macroadenomas were more common in middle to old age males in contrast to the females where microadenomas tend to occur at a younger age.