Pituitary Center

Expertise

The Stanford Pituitary Center provides comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and streamlined care for the evaluation and treatment of pituitary tumors and other neuroendocrine disorders, including: acromegaly, prolactinomas, Cushing's syndrome, nonfunctioning pituitary tumors, craniopharygiomas and disorders of the pituitary and hypothalamic region that lead to growth hormone deficiency or adrenal, thyroid, ovarian, or testicular deficiency.

The pituitary and neuroendocrine clinical programs at Stanford bring together knowledge and expertise in clinical research and teaching applications to treatment of neuroendocrine diseases. Our endocrinologists and neurosurgeons collaborate in multidisciplinary management of patients, and are experienced in the most advanced diagnostic strategies and directed medical, neurosurgical or radiation options for patients with pituitary tumors.

Our clinical program is aimed at integration of care in a patient-friendly setting for people with pituitary disorders - not only under one roof, but in the same room. This multidisciplinary approach allows for total care, from initial triage through surgical intervention and post-operative follow-up.

Services offered

• Evaluation by an endocrinologist and neurosurgeon with expertise in pituitary tumor resection using state-of-the-art real time intraoperative MRI
• Resection of small or large functional pituitary tumors, including Cushing's tumors, GH producing tumors (acromegaly) and prolactinomas resistant to medical therapy
• Resection of non-functional pituitary lesions (adenomas, craniopharyngiomas, meningiomas, gliomas, chordomas, Rathke's cleft cysts, etc.)
• A dedicated neuroendocrine testing facility for performing dynamic studies, including cortrosyn stimulation tests, growth hormone stimulation and suppression tests.
• The Pituitary Center can arrange for complete outpatient or inpatient diagnostic testing for Cushing's syndrome, including bilateral inferior petrosal sinus ACTH sampling, which is an important diagnostic tool in patients with Cushing's disease without tumors visable on head MRI scans.
• Interpreted test results are provided to the referring physician and to medical records.
  

Referrals

Consulting physicians and patients can easily access the following Pituitary Center services through referrals to our endocrinologists and neurosurgeons:

• Interventional radiology
• Neuroendocrine testing
• Neuro-Ophthalmology
• Neurosurgery
• Patient education
• Radiation-Oncology