It is conceivable that the day is not far distant when our present methods of dealing with hypophyseal enlargements, with scalpel, ronguer and curette—new as these measures actually are and as brilliant as the results may often be—will seem utterly crude and antiquated, for it is quite probable that surgery will, in the end, come to play a less, rather than a more important role in ductless gland maladies
Harvey Cushing (1912) (1)
Abstract
The immense history leading to our current understanding and treatment of pituitary pathology is inextricably linked to the evolution of the understanding of the numerous functions of the hypophysis cerebri as the "master gland" of the endocrine system. When the anatomists of old encountered this small organ sequestered "like a nugget in the innermost of Chinese boxes" (2) at the base of the brain, they had no inkling of its importance in the control of multiple target organs in the human body. It would ultimately take two millennia and a vast amount of clinical and laboratory research for its role in the body to eventually become more completely appreciated.
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Maartens, N.F. The history of the treatment of pituitary adenomas. Endocr 28, 9–26 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1385/ENDO:28:1:009
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/ENDO:28:1:009