----------------------------------------------------------- New Message on Pituitary Chat
----------------------------------------------------------- From: Willard1H Message 5 in Discussion Hi, LK, We're eager to hear how your medical trip went. I hope we got you our messages in time to be of use to you. Since you'd already decided to have an MRI or CT-scan, I felt it was crucial to mention the importance of comprehensive blood testing. Marcia and Anita certainly agreed with me. In my case, the MRI was done weeks before at a moderately sized hospital. But not until I met with an endo and a neurosurgeon a few weeks later, did we know what the huge mass was inside my skull. At the big regional clinic, the hormone work showed high Prolactin, along with levels of all the other important hormones. The bloodwork was crucial. But don't believe all the hearsay and get the impression of MRI imaging being less important. The Pituitary Network Association (PNA) emphasizes its importance, pointing out: "Most prolactinomas can be visualized on both MRI and CT scans of the pituitary gland. Such scans should be performed without and following contrast administration." It's premature for us to suggest that you have the most common kind of pit tumor, a micro or macro prolactinoma -- at this point, we dunno if you even have a tumor at all!. But PNA's point is true in varying degrees, in maybe a dozen varieties of pituitary tumors. But suppose a woman has a 3 mm tumor that the technician misses on the MRI images. My 50 mm tumor was obvious, even to my untrained eye. Yet we can't ignore what the MRI also tells the medical team -- what is NOT there. They want to get a good look at the whole brain, to be sure there is no tumor there, or a Rathke's cleft cyst. They also feel relieved if there is no visible damage to surrounding tissue. Another reason we can't minimize the importance of the initial MRI is "time." Magnetic Resonance Imaging is not known to leave any ill effects. A tumor patient might be subjected to a dozen of them over a few decades of treatment and follow-up testing. That first imaging session would always be the benchmark in a patient's 20 or more years of checkups. (By contrast, CT-scans use radiation and are less sensitive, but also are considered vital.) The same is true with the hormone assays from comprehensive bloodwork.If the lab techs stringently follow standard procedures, they can detect high or low growth hormone, FSH- and LH-secreting tumors, Cushings, etc. But a non-secreting tumor is more difficult to detect. I'd suggested studying MinnieChat's Association Links and other resources on the blue sidebars of the page. PNA is one of the many on that list. The National and the American brain tumor associations are also valuable sources of information, and are much more autoritative than opinions or old wives' tales we members share here. As one PitChat member advised recently, "Beware of some advice in forums: some people are extremist and do more harm then good." Sometimes a member might indeed have more recent or more scholarly research than the nat'l groups'.We'll be quick to provide links if that is the case. Let us know as soon as you learn the outcome of your tests. If you haven't gotten a better endocrinologist, it's very likely we could recommend one near your geographical area. Bless you, Willard ----------------------------------------------------------- To stop getting this e-mail, or change how often it arrives, go to your E-mail Settings. http://groups.msn.com/PituitaryChat/_emailsettings.msnw Need help? If you've forgotten your password, please go to Passport Member Services. http://groups.msn.com/_passportredir.msnw?ppmprop=help For other questions or feedback, go to our Contact Us page. http://groups.msn.com/contact If you do not want to receive future e-mail from this MSN group, or if you received this message by mistake, please click the "Remove" link below. On the pre-addressed e-mail message that opens, simply click "Send". Your e-mail address will be deleted from this group's mailing list. mailto:[email protected]
