Clinically relevant pituitary adenomas: a single-center epidemiological study.

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Neuroscience
• Oncology

Background:

• Pituitary adenomas (PA) are a common, heterogeneous group of mostly benign central nervous system tumors.
• PA constitute 13.5-20% of primary brain tumors, with a rising incidence.
• Understanding PA epidemiology is crucial for diagnosis and treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine epidemiological characteristics of pituitary adenomas.
• To focus on surgically resected PA and their specific features.
• To analyze patient demographics, tumor characteristics, and diagnostic results.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 1111 patients diagnosed with PA between 2018-2023.
• Detailed review of clinical history, demographics, and tumor features for 194 surgically treated patients.
• Calculation of annual PA incidence rate per 100,000 population.

Main Results:

• Identified 1111 new PA cases; 63.7% female, 36.3% male, with an annual incidence of 4.11/100,000.
• Women diagnosed younger; men more frequently had non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) (76% of surgical cases).
• Men with NFPA had larger tumors and were diagnosed more often with NFPA compared to women.

Conclusions:

• While women have higher PA incidence, men present with more clinically relevant tumors.
• Male patients are diagnosed with NFPA more frequently and with larger tumors.
• No association found between comorbidities and pituitary adenoma type.