[Hypophyseal adenomas: problems of morphological diagnosis]

The paper summarizes the data on statistics, anatomy, histology, histochemistry, ultrastructure, and functional properties of human pituitary adenomas. Pathomorphological diagnosis of pituitary adenoma must reflect not only the exact localization and spread of the tumor but also its possible hormonal activity. There are three morphological methods which adequately determine the endocrine function of normal and neoplastic pituitary cells: histochemistry immunohistology, and electron microscopy. All of them have their shortcomings, therefore more than one method must be used in diagnosis of pituitary adenomas in order to obtain the objective endocrinological characteristics of the tumor as a whole.