Anatomy study note · Head and neck

Pituitary gland

The "master" endocrine gland, attached to the undersurface of the brain by the infundibulum and lodged in the hypophyseal fossa of the sella turcica.

Key points

• In the sella turcica under the diaphragma sellae.
• Adenohypophysis (Rathke pouch) + neurohypophysis (infundibulum).
• Optic chiasma above; sphenoid sinus in front; cavernous sinuses at the sides.
• Craniopharyngioma: Rathke pouch remnant.
• Acidophils: GH, prolactin. Basophils: ACTH, FSH/LH, TSH.
• Pars nervosa: Herring bodies (ADH, oxytocin).

The full note in the atlas also covers

Relations · Features · Blood supply · Histology · Development

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 12, PDF pp. 1559, 1807–1811
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 18, PDF pp. 348–349
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 13, PDF pp. 233–238

More from the head and neck

• Platysma
• Pons
• Postcentral gyrus
• Posterior cerebral artery
• Posterior cricoarytenoid
• Precentral gyrus
• Retina
• Salpingopharyngeus
• Scalenus anterior
• Scalenus medius and posterior
• Sclera
• Skull

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