Brain Tumors Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Brain Tumors, including details on symptoms, benign and malignant tumors, gliomas, screening, treatment.

Thyrotropinomas.

Beck-Peccoz P, Persani L

Department of Medical Sciences, University of Milan, Fondazione Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico IRCCS, Milan, Italy. paolo.beckpeccoz@unimi.it

Thyrotropinomas are easily recognized, owing to the availability of ultrasensitive thyropin immunometric assays. These methods allow a clear distinction between patients who have suppressed and those who have nonsuppressed circulating thyrotropin concentrations. In the latter, it is mandatory to perform a differential diagnosis, as the management of the two disorders is completely different, and failure to recognize the presence of a thyrotropinoma may result in dramatic consequences. Adenomectomy is the firstline treatment of thyrotropinomas, followed by irradiation in the case of surgical failure. Medical treatment with somatostatin analogs is effective in reducing thyrotropin secretion in more than 90% of cases.

Published 29 January 2008 in Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am, 37(1): 123-34, viii-ix.
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