Symptoms of hyperthyroidism can include tremulousness, weight loss, heat intolerance, increased frequency of bowel movements, anxiety, and palpitations. In addition, if the tumor is large, patients with thyrotrope adenomas may experience symptoms that any patient with a large tumor in the pituitary area may experience, including headaches, visual loss, and/or deficiencies of other pituitary hormones.

A thyrotrope adenoma is a pituitary tumor that secretes TSH. These type of pituitary tumors are exceedingly rare.

Patients with TSH-secreting adenomas may experience symptoms of hyperthyroidism, including tremulousness, weight loss, heat intolerance, increased frequency of bowel movements, anxiety, and palpitations. These symptoms are reversible with treatment of the tumor.

TSH-secreting adenomas are diagnosed with appropriate endocrine testing in conjunction with a pituitary MRI revealing a pituitary tumor. In such cases, usually hormones made by the thyroid (T4 and T3) are elevated, but the TSH levels are not suppressed as would be expected in primary hyperthyroidism (hyperthyroidism caused by a disorder of the thyroid gland itself, not the pituitary).

The primary therapy for TSH-secreting adenomas is surgery. When surgery does not achieve remission, radiation and/or medical therapy options are available. Somatostatin analogs are the most effective medications currently available for this disorder.