[Limited value of ophthalmological examinations for detection of recurrent pituitary adenoma (author's transl)].

In three patients, recurrence of a large pituitary adenoma was not detectable by ophthalmological means, because the tumor recurred in an area where the optic nerve fibers had already been destroyed by the primary tumor. These cases demonstrate that unchanged visual fields do not exclude tumor regrowth, and that computer tomography is indispensable in the follow-up surgically treated pituitary adenomas.