Diabetes and Endocrinology Center
Pituitary Center
The USF Pituitary clinic has been serving patients since 2003. Each year we provide around 250 outpatient consultations and perform more than 60 endoscopic and transcranial pituitary surgeries at Tampa General Hospital.
Outpatient & Inpatient Care
- We provide inpatient and outpatient service.
- Continuity of care by the same teams while you are seen in the inpatient stay at Tampa General Hospital and the outpatient setting.
- In addition to state-of-the-art high-Definition endoscopic equipment, pituitary surgeries at Tampa General Hospital are performed in the IMRIS intra-operative MRI room. If required, a ceiling mounted 3 Tesla MRI magnet can be brought into the room and a high-definition pituitary MRI can be obtained during the surgery. This specialized operating room is only available in a handful of hospital in Florida.
The pituitary gland is a tiny, pea-sized gland that controls the function of most other endocrine glands in the body. It is therefore sometimes called the master gland. It can over- or under-produce hormones that effect the thyroid, adrenal, testes and ovaries. It also controls growth and water balance. The gland is located at the base of your brain and can develop tumors that are almost always benign. Although the tumors are not generally cancerous, they can cause several difficulties, including vision problems, headaches and other health problems.
The experts at the USF Pituitary Center of Excellence offer highly specialized care for the management and treatment of pituitary disorders.
Conditions associated with pituitary dysfunction include:
- Acromegaly
- Craniopharyngioma
- Cushing's disease
- Non-functioning pituitary adenoma
- Pituitary cysts, including Rathke's cleft cyst
- Prolactinoma
- TSH-producing pituitary adenomas
- Hereditary syndromes: MEN-4, MEN-1, McCune Albright syndrome, Carney complex
- Hypophysitis
- Panhypopituitarism
- Pituitary dysfunction induced by immune checkpoint inhibitors
- Central Diabetes Insipidus
Education & Training
Tampa General Hospital (TGH) is one of the most comprehensive medical facilities in West Central Florida. TGH is an acute patient care facility with modern operating rooms and intensive care units where the neurosurgery and endocrine fellows spend a portion of their training. Our skull base surgery program has a national and international reputation. Each year, one fully trained neurosurgeon, joins our program as a skull base fellow for an in-depth training in complex cranial surgeries. Annual courses are hosted at the USF Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) where surgeons from all over the world come train on simulators and learn advanced skull base techniques.
The USF Endocrinology Fellowship is a two-year program with three fellows positions per year. The program provides extensive supervised clinical training in different areas of the subspecialty of endocrinology and is committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive learning and professional working environment. Patient care occurs in Tampa General Hospital, James A. Haley VA Hospital, Moffitt Cancer Center. At Tampa General Hospital, the USF endocrinology fellows and faculties collaborate with the USF Neurosurgery team and other subspecialties to provide multidisciplinary, highly specialized medical care in the management of pituitary disorders.
List of Required Information Prior to Requesting an Appointment
- Diagnosis
- Images and reports
- Laboratories results
- Name and contact information of primary care physician or referral provider
Contact Information
- We offer imaging services at multiple locations in Tampa Bay Area.
- USF Radiology Center: 813-259-8845 & 813-396-2372
- Tampa General Hospital: 813-844-8288
- Tower Radiology Center: 813-874-3177
Pituitary Tumor Board
Every 3rd Friday of the month:
- Physicians interested in participating in the USF/TGH Pituitary Tumor Board are welcome to do so. Please email cancerconference@tgh.org and you will be included in future notifications of our monthly meetings.
- Pituitary Tumor Board Case Presentation Submission Form [.docx]
Endocrinology and Metabolism
-
Marla E. Sevilla Alsina, MD
Pituitary Clinical Lead, Assistant Professor of Medicine -
Yevgeniya Kushchayeva, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine -
Bayan Mesmar, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine -
Silvia Salgado Nunez Del Prado, MD
Silvia Salgado Nunez Del Prado, MDAssistant Professor -
Dana Bassoumi, PA-C
Dana Bassoumi, PA-CPhysician Assistant, Certified
Neurosurgery
-
Siviero Agazzi, MD
Pituitary Neurosurgery lead, Professor and Vice Chairman -
Harry Van Loveren, MD
Professor and Chairman -
Kunal Vakharia, MD
Assistant Professor
Neuro-ophthalmology
-
Mitchell Drucker, MD
Professor of Medicine
Radiation Oncology
-
Brian Collins, MD
Brian Collins, MDUniversity of South Florida Professor of Radiation Oncology, Tampa General Hospital co-director of Radiosurgery -
John David, MD
Assistant Professor, TGH Cancer Institute
ENT
-
Arjun Parasher, MD
Assistant Professor -
Mark Tabor, MD
Associate Professor -
Lindsey Ryan, MD
Lindsey Ryan, MDAssistant Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Division of Rhinology and Skull base Surgery
Neuro-Oncology
-
Sajeel Chowdhary, MD
Sajeel Chowdhary, MD
Neuropathology
-
Patrick Malafronte, MD
Patrick Malafronte, MDTGH Cancer Institute -
Nicole Riddle, MD
Associate Professor & Program Director for the Department of Pathology