PITUITARY-INVESTIGATIONS

SUMMARY

1. Prolactin: prolactinoma.
2. 24hr urinary free cortisol: for ACTH excess.
3. 1mg Dexamethasone overnight suppression test: for ACTH, cortisol excess.
4. ACTH stimulation test: cortisol deficiency.
5. FSH + LH: gonadotroph.
6. Alpha-subunit: inactive pieces of glycoprotein that indicate that a pituitary mass is definitely pituitary and not a craniopharyngioma.

Reference(s)

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].