Molecular Imaging of Pituitary Pathology

The presence of large numbers and/or the high affinity of dopamine D2 and/or somatostatin receptors on pituitary adenomas may enable their visualization with radionuclide-coupled receptor agonists or antagonists. However, the role of these imaging modalities in the differential diagnosis of or therapeutic purposes for pituitary lesions is very limited. Only in very specific cases might these molecular imaging techniques become helpful. These include the differential diagnosis of pituitary lesions, ectopic production of pituitary hormones, such as adrenocorticotrophic hormone, growth hormone (GH) or their releasing hormones (corticotropin-releasing hormone and GH-releasing hormone), and the localization of metastases from pituitary carcinomas.