Pituitary tumor

I received an MRI last year and diagnosed as pituitary tumor. In this March, I had same examination again. The tumor size did not change but the level of growth hormone (GH) in my blood was increased. That means I have a growth hormone-secreting pituitary tumor and need surgery to remove it. I will have more detailed examination for a week at the end of April.

The pituitary gland also secretes thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which stimulates thyroid gland to secrete thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) hormones. These thyroid hormones act pituitary gland to suppress the secretion of TSH by the feedback. However, I had high levels of both TSH and thyroid hormones simultaneously, indicating a rare case of pituitary tumor, TSH-producing tumor.
The doctor said me that the incidence of the TSH-producing tumor is less than 1% of all pituitary tumors, or 1 per 10 millions persons in a year. The overproduction of GH may result in acromegaly and that of TSH causes hyperthyroidism, although the tumor appears to be nonmalignant.

I had a somatostatin-tolerance test on Mar 18. I gave a subcutaneous injection of somatostatin and had blood samplings at prescribed intervals. I will let know the result at the next examination and will have the surgeon in this summer.
I met some of my friend at the night and held a drinking party in Tokyo.

An MRI image of my brain. Arrow indicates the pituitary tumor.


Surprised (left) and smiling (right) brains.