Pituitary gland

[midagetrolop]

Can anyone help me - having taken my 85 yr old mother for a field test this morning ( she has mild glaucoma) her consultant was concerned enough to have an appointment made for an MRI scan because he says there may be a problem with her pituitary gland - can someone tell me what on earth the pituitary gland has to do with a field test outcome? We are baffled!

[Sqad]

The pituitary gland sits in a boney concavity in the skull and the two optic nerves on the way back to the brain just happen to pass it.

Now, any abnormality of the Pituitary Gland, may press on one of the optic nerves to cause visual field defects.

The MRI is of that part of the skull which will rule out any increase in size of the pituitary gland which could impinge on the optic nerve.

[sara3]

http://www.webhealth...._health/pituitary.asp

there's some stuff here, but it sounds a bit grim.. sorry. but I'm with you, it sounds unlikely and a bit off the mark.

the MRI isn't painful but it's noisy, and can be a bit scary. I'm all for these mini-MOT's, then you can move on from potentially scary results. I hope it all goes well for your mother x

[Mr Veritas]

According to this site:~
http://www.macmillan....Pituitarytumours.aspx
(Scroll down to Pituitary tumours))
if there is a tumour on the Pituitary gland it can put pressure on the optic nerve,this would of course affect eyesight.
So your consultant is being thorough,and making sure that the mild glaucoma is not in fact something caused by a Pituutary tumour.