How to prevent pituitary tumors in children

Children are the hope of a country and society. Now more and more diseases occur in childhood. Children are especially one of the high-risk groups for pituitary tumors. Therefore, for many parents, preventing pituitary tumors is a very important thing. Now let’s talk about how to prevent pituitary tumors in children.

Compared with the location of adult pituitary tumors, about half of pediatric pituitary tumors occur in the cerebellum and brainstem. Pituitary tumors in children are very easy to be misdiagnosed and mistreated clinically. Parents should check for pituitary tumors if they find that their children have decreased vision and poor correction, vomiting, headaches, unsteady walking, etc. The following symptoms should alert you to pituitary tumors:

Vision loss or diplopia: More than 50% of children will show signs of vision loss, and a small number will show diplopia or strabismus.

Vomiting: It is the most common symptom of pituitary tumors in children, with an incidence rate of 73% to 94%, often accompanied by dizziness, headache, nausea and neck stiffness. The vomiting time is not related to eating and is intermittent and recurrent. Children are easily misdiagnosed as gastrointestinal diseases.

Headache: usually caused by increased intracranial pressure. Often there is no fixed location. The child's headache will gradually worsen as the tumor progresses, and in severe cases, it is accompanied by vomiting and sweating on the head. Clinically, many infants and young children are too young to express headaches, and only cry and feel restless or hit their heads. Parents should pay attention to this.

Unsteady walking: If the tumor grows in the posterior cranial fossa and involves or compresses the cerebellum or brainstem, it may cause movement disorders. Children usually show symptoms such as unstable standing and skewed gait.

Parents and friends please pay attention to your child's physical changes. If your child shows the above pituitary tumor symptoms, please go to the hospital for examination immediately to avoid more serious consequences.