The incidence rate of pituitary adenomas in western Sweden for the period 2001–2011

Abstract

Objective: The number of studies on the incidence of pituitary adenomas (PAs) is limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the standardised incidence rate (SIR) of PAs in western Sweden. Design, subjects and methods: Data from adult patients diagnosed with PAs in 2001-2011, living in the Vä stra Gö taland County, were collected from the Swedish Pituitary Registry (SPR). In addition, medical records on all patients diagnosed with PAs at the six hospitals in the region were reviewed. In total, 592 patients were included in the study. Age-SIR, given as rate/100 000 inhabitants (95% CI), was calculated using the WHO 2000 standard population as a reference. Results: The total SIR for PAs was 3.9/100 000 (3.6-4.3); 3.3/100 000 (2.9-3.7) for men and 4.7/100 000 (4.1-5.3) for women. In men, SIR increased with age, while in women SIR peaked at 25-34 years, mainly due to prolactinomas. Non-functioning PA (NFPA) was the most common PA (54%, 1.8/100 000 (1.6-2.0)) followed by prolactinomas (32%, 1.6/100 000 (1.3-1.9)), acromegaly (9%, 0.35/100 000 (0.25-0.45)), Cushing's disease (4%, 0.18/100 000 (0.11-0.25)) and TSH-producing PA (0.7%, 0.03/100 000 (0.00-0.05)). The proportion of macroadenomas for NFPA was 82%, prolactinomas 37%, GH-producing PA 77%, ACTH-producing PA 28% and TSH-producing PA 100%. The lifetime risk for PAs was 0.27% (0.24-0.31) in men and 0.29% (0.26-0.33) in women. Conclusion: This study provides a reliable estimate on the overall incidence of PAs and confirms an increased incidence of PAs compared with studies conducted in the pre-magnetic resonance imaging era. The lower proportion of prolactinomas compared with previous studies is probably explained by the different criteria used.

Acromegaly incidence, prevalence, complications and long-term prognosis: a nationwide cohort study

“…This estimate lies within the range previously reported, albeit in the upper part of the range (13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25). We estimated the point prevalence as 85 cases of acromegaly/10 6 persons in 2010, which is higher than most previous reports (19,20,21,22,23,24,25).…”

Incidence and prevalence of clinically relevant pituitary adenomas: retrospective cohort study in a Health Management Organization in Buenos Aires, Argentina

“…The overall SIR, as clearly depicted in Figure 2, mainly arises as a result of the high incidence of prolactinomas [5.41 (2.57-8.25)], which accounted for 57% of all of our PAs. Although not significantly higher than that of Finland [2.16 (1.70-2.63)] (8), our incidence of prolactinomas is higher than those of Malta (7) and Sweden (9). This could be attributed to the fact that our study included patients diagnosed and treated not only by endocrinologists and neurosurgeons but also by gynecologists and general practitioners, who usually care for patients with microprolactinomas in our health program.…”

“…Recent epidemiological studies have shown that both the incidence (7)(8)(9) and prevalence (7,(10)(11)(12) of PAs may have been previously underestimated.…”

Menopause and prolactin secreting tumours

“…[1,2,3] Once a diagnosis of prolactinoma has been established the therapy options vary from medication to surgery or radiotherapy although (opposite to the others secretor pituitary adenomas) the prolactinomas have as first line management the dopamine analogues. [4,5] This paper will point out several practical aspects in prolactiomas: first issue is related to the therapy options in menopausal women and the importance of continuing with dopamine agonists even at lowest efficient dose in postmenopausal years and secondary we will focus on long standing secondary amenorrhea misdiagnosed as menopause in women of reproductive age.…”