- Part 1 Principles of international endocrine practice
- Part 2 Pituitary and hypothalamic diseases
- 2.1 General concepts of hypothalamus-pituitary anatomy
- 2.2 The neurohypophysis
- 2.3 Aetiology, pathogenesis, and management of disease of the pituitary
- 2.3.1 Development of the pituitary and genetic forms of hypopituitarism
- 2.3.2 Molecular pathogenesis of pituitary tumours
- 2.3.3 Histopathology of pituitary tumours
- 2.3.4 Pituitary assessment strategy
- 2.3.5 Imaging of the pituitary
- 2.3.6 Hypopituitarism: replacement of adrenal, thyroid, and gonadal axes
- 2.3.7 Adult growth hormone deficiency
- 2.3.8 Surgery of pituitary tumours
- 2.3.9 Pituitary radiotherapy
- 2.3.10 Prolactinomas and hyperprolactinaemia (including macroprolactinaemia)
- 2.3.11 Acromegaly
- 2.3.12 Clinically nonfunctioning pituitary tumours and gonadotropinomas
- 2.3.13 Thyrotropinomas
- 2.3.14 Pituitary carcinoma
- 2.3.15 Pituitary incidentalomas
- 2.4 Aetiology, pathogenesis, and management of diseases of the hypothalamus
- 2.5 Pineal physiology and pathophysiology, including pineal tumours
- 2.6 Neuropsychiatric endocrinological disorders
- Part 3 The thyroid
- Part 4 Parathyroid, calcium, and bone metabolism
- Part 5 The adrenal gland and endocrine hypertension
- Part 6 Neuroendocrine tumours and genetic disorders
- Part 7 Growth and development during childhood
- Part 8 Female endocrinology and pregnancy
- Part 9 Male hypogonadism and infertility
- Part 10 Endocrinology of ageing and systemic disease
- Part 11 Endocrinology of cancer
- Part 12 Obesity, lipids, and metabolic disorders
- Part 13 Diabetes mellitus
Histopathology of pituitary tumours
- Chapter:
- Histopathology of pituitary tumours
- Author(s):
Eva Horvath
and Kalman Kovacs
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199235292.003.2063
The human pituitary gland consists of two major components: the adenohypophysis comprising the hormone producing cells of the pars anterior, pars intermedia, and pars tuberalis, and the neurohypophysis, also called pars nervosa or posterior lobe (1). In contrast to most mammalian species, the human gland has no anatomically distinct pars intermedia (2). The exclusively proopiomelanocortin (POMC)-producing cells of the pars intermedia are sandwiched between the anterior and posterior lobes in the majority of mammals, whereas in the human they are incorporated within the pars anterior, thereby constituting the pars distalis (3). The pars tuberalis is a minor upward extension of the adenohypophysis attached to the exterior of the lower pituitary stalk. In this chapter we deal only with adenohypophyseal tumours.
Histologically, the adenohypophysis consists of a central median (or mucoid) wedge flanked by the two lateral wings. The hormone-producing cell types are distributed in an uneven, but characteristic manner. The cells are arranged within evenly sized acini surrounded by a delicate but well-defined reticulin fibre network giving the pituitary its distinct architecture (4). In the center of the acini is the long-neglected pituitary follicle composed of the agranular nonendocrine folliculo-stellate cells (5).
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- Part 1 Principles of international endocrine practice
- Part 2 Pituitary and hypothalamic diseases
- 2.1 General concepts of hypothalamus-pituitary anatomy
- 2.2 The neurohypophysis
- 2.3 Aetiology, pathogenesis, and management of disease of the pituitary
- 2.3.1 Development of the pituitary and genetic forms of hypopituitarism
- 2.3.2 Molecular pathogenesis of pituitary tumours
- 2.3.3 Histopathology of pituitary tumours
- 2.3.4 Pituitary assessment strategy
- 2.3.5 Imaging of the pituitary
- 2.3.6 Hypopituitarism: replacement of adrenal, thyroid, and gonadal axes
- 2.3.7 Adult growth hormone deficiency
- 2.3.8 Surgery of pituitary tumours
- 2.3.9 Pituitary radiotherapy
- 2.3.10 Prolactinomas and hyperprolactinaemia (including macroprolactinaemia)
- 2.3.11 Acromegaly
- 2.3.12 Clinically nonfunctioning pituitary tumours and gonadotropinomas
- 2.3.13 Thyrotropinomas
- 2.3.14 Pituitary carcinoma
- 2.3.15 Pituitary incidentalomas
- 2.4 Aetiology, pathogenesis, and management of diseases of the hypothalamus
- 2.5 Pineal physiology and pathophysiology, including pineal tumours
- 2.6 Neuropsychiatric endocrinological disorders
- Part 3 The thyroid
- Part 4 Parathyroid, calcium, and bone metabolism
- Part 5 The adrenal gland and endocrine hypertension
- Part 6 Neuroendocrine tumours and genetic disorders
- Part 7 Growth and development during childhood
- Part 8 Female endocrinology and pregnancy
- Part 9 Male hypogonadism and infertility
- Part 10 Endocrinology of ageing and systemic disease
- Part 11 Endocrinology of cancer
- Part 12 Obesity, lipids, and metabolic disorders
- Part 13 Diabetes mellitus