To avoid major problems, it is extremely important that patients undergo careful endocrine, neuroradiological, and neuroophthalmologic evaluation prior to treatment. If there is no suprasellar extension, and if the patient harbours only a microadenoma, then the risk of swelling of the pituitary is extremely small; it is therefore suggested that the patient is evaluated clinically at bimonthly intervals throughout the pregnancy. If the patient has a macroadenoma and suprasellar extension, a strong case can be made for transsphenoidal decompression of the tumour prior to pregnancy. It is, however, possible even for these patients to go through pregnancy without developing visual disturbances and, furthermore, even if visual disturbances occur in one pregnancy, the problem may not recur in subsequent pregnancies.
