Pituitary tumors - a large retrospective single-center study of over 2300 cases. An experience of tertiary reference center.

Introduction: Pituitary adenomas (PAs) also known as pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNET) are usually benign tumors of the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland and account for the third most common intracranial neoplasm. The most common type of pituitary adenoma is lactotroph adenoma, in which dopamine agonists are the first-line treatment. Nevertheless, in selected cases surgery or even radiotherapy may be required. In the current study, we aimed to analyze all patients who underwent surgery due to intrasellar mass in order to evaluate the frequency of particular pituitary tumors, clinical diagnosis, and pathology findings. Material and methods: We retrospectively analyzed all cases of patients consecutively operated due to intrasellar mass between 1st January 2010 and 31st of December 2018 at the Department of Neurosurgery, Military Institute of Medicine in Warsaw in Poland. Results: Our database included 2348 of cases: 1390 women (59.2%) and 958 men (40.8%). The mean age for women was 48,4 years (SD ± 15.72; median 49) and for men 50,9 (SD ±14.94; median 53). In our cohort we have found: 869 NFPAs, 751 somatotroph and mammosomatrotroph adenomas, 386 corticotroph adenomas, 71 plurihormonal adenomas, 59 craniopharyngiomas, 44 lactotroph adenomas, 18 purely thyrotroph adenomas, and other rare cases of pituitary tumors including 1 pituitary carcinoma metastasizing to the liver (corticotroph origin). Conclusions: We provide a comprehensive analysis of both clinical and pathological findings of the largest cohort of patients operated on for pituitary adenomas in one tertiary reference center. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest up-to-date published analysis in our country.