Hypophysectomy

Hypophysectomy is the surgical removal of all or part of the pituitary gland, most often performed to remove a tumor such as a craniopharyngioma or a pituitary adenoma causing Cushing's syndrome. It is also used, less commonly, to treat other hormonal disorders such as Simmond's disease, and researchers perform it on animals to study how the pituitary gland governs the rest of the endocrine system. Because the pituitary gland controls so much of the body's hormone production, a patient who has had a complete hypophysectomy needs lifelong hormone replacement therapy, typically including glucocorticoids, to replace what the gland no longer supplies.