Cognitive dysfunction in patients treated for pituitary tumours.

Assessment of neuropsychological status and mood was carried out on 36 patients who had been treated for pituitary tumour and on 36 healthy controls. Impairments in memory and executive function were exhibited by the patients even when other known causes of cognitive dysfunction had been excluded. There was no difference in mood between the two groups, and the deficits in cognitive dysfunction were not related to mood disturbance or to the effects of radiotherapy. The defects were however, related to the presence of surgery, although not to the type of surgery. Reasons for the cognitive dysfunction are unclear but are likely to be multifactorial possibly including the effects of neurosurgery and/or hormone imbalance resulting from pituitary surgery.