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. 2021 Aug 11:8:23742895211037028.
doi: 10.1177/23742895211037028. eCollection 2021 Jan-Dec.

Educational Case: Pituitary Adenoma

Ayda Javanbakht  1 , George Zanazzi  1   2
Affiliations

Educational Case: Pituitary Adenoma

Ayda Javanbakht et al. Acad Pathol. .

Abstract

The following fictional case is intended as a learning tool within the Pathology Competencies for Medical Education (PCME), a set of national standards for teaching pathology. These are divided into three basic competencies: Disease Mechanisms and Processes, Organ System Pathology, and Diagnostic Medicine and Therapeutic Pathology. For additional information, and a full list of learning objectives for all three competencies, seehttp://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2374289517715040.1.

Keywords: amenorrhea; endocrine; galactorrhea; hyperpituitarism; organ system pathology; pathology competencies; pituitary adenoma; prolactinoma.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a lesion in the sella turcica. This sagittal image of the brain shows a hypodense lesion (arrow) that is centered in the sella turcica.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Histologic features of normal adenohypophysis and a pituitary adenoma. (A) A hematoxylin and eosin–stained section of normal anterior pituitary shows nests with acidophils, basophils, and chromophobes. (B) A reticulin special stain highlights the abundant connective tissue that surrounds the nests of endocrine cells. (C) A representative hematoxylin and eosin–stained section shows a neoplasm arranged in variably sized sheets and nests of mildly pleomorphic cells with amphophilic cytoplasm, round to oval nuclei, and stippled chromatin. (D) The reticulin connective tissue network is nearly absent in the pituitary adenoma. Magnifications, ×200.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Histopathologic features of a lactotroph adenoma. (A) The tumor strongly expresses prolactin. (B) Tumor cell nuclei are strongly positive for PIT1, a transcription factor found in lactotrophs, somatotrophs, and thyrotrophs. (C) The vast majority of tumor cells are negative for SF1, a transcription factor found in gonadotrophs. (D) The tumor cells are negative for TPIT, a transcription factor found in corticotrophs. Magnifications, ×200.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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