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Published on: January 17, 2018
The epidemiology of pituitary adenomas in a community-based hospital: a retrospective single center study in Saudi
Khalid S Aljabri1, Samia A Bokhari, Faisal Y Assiri
1Khalid S. Aljabri, MD, FRCPC, Department of Endocrinology,, King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital,, PO Box 6572, Jeddah 24361,, Saudi Arabia, T: 966555544919, F: 966-22-576-0665, khalidsaljabri@yahoo.com, ORCID: http://orcid.org/000-0001-5831-5935.
Background:
Data on pituitary adenoma (PA) prevalence in Saudi Arabia are scarce.
Objective:
To estimate the epidemiology of PA in a well-defined population.
Design:
Retrospective analysis.
Setting:
Departments of Endocrinology and Radiology at King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Patients And Methods:
Radiological and hormonal data of patients with pituitary adenoma by MRI were reviewed for the period January 2008 to December 2015.
Main Outcome Measures:
Prevalence of PA and hormonal abnormalities.
Results:
Of 537 patients; 249 subjects (46.4%), 70 (28.1%) males and 179 (71.9%) females, were diagnosed to have PA with mean age 36.3 (14.1) years. Microadenoma and macroadenoma were seen in 171 (69%) and 78 (31%) subjects, respectively. Microadenomas were more prevalent than macroadenomas (68.7% vs. 31.3%). Microadenomas were significantly more prevalent in females, 131 (73.2 %) vs. 40 (57.1%) whereas macroadenomas were significantly more prevalent in males, 30 (42.9%) vs. 48 (26.8%) (P < .001 for both comparisons). Patients with microadenomas were significantly younger than patients with macroadenomas (P < .0001). Advanced age was significantly associated with a larger PA size (r=0.39, P < .0002). Three types of hyperfunctioning PA were seen: prolactinoma, somatotroph adenoma, and corticotroph adenoma. Five types of hypofunctioning PA were seen: panhypopituitarism, secondary hypogonadism, growth hormone deficiency, central hypothroidism and central adrenal insufficiency. Non-functioning PA were within normal laboratory hormonal values in 2% of cases.
Conclusion:
Our study showed that the prevalence of PA was greater than previously reported. This increased prevalence may have important implications when prioritizing funding for research and treatment of PA.
Limitations:
Clustering of cases within the study region might have affected estimates and limited study sample size.
