Pituitary adenomas in childhood and adolescence.

Pituitary adenomas are considered rare tumors in the pediatric age group. The natural history in this age group is not well known, although many authors have suggested that pituitary adenomas in children tend to be extrasellar and invasive and that a subfrontal approach is mandatory in the majority. Our patients were part of a surgical series of 356 adenomas of all ages. We have divided these cases into three groups: the first consists of patients operated on before the age of 21 years (52 cases, 15%); the second, patients treated after the age of 20 but in whom the clinical history started before 21 years (52 cases, 15%); the third, patients with surgery and symptoms after 20 years (252 cases, 70%). Transsphenoidal removal of the adenomas was the initial procedure in all but one of these cases; a few required a second intracranial operation. In our series, pituitary adenomas in children were not more invasive than in other age groups.