Welcome to the FIPA website
This website is intended to increase awareness of Familial Isolated Pituitary Adenoma (FIPA). Pituitary adenomas are tumours that occur in the pituitary gland and affect around one person in every thousand. Pituitary adenomas can affect patients in a variety of ways which are explained in this website.
A small number of patients with pituitary adenomas have family members with similar disease. Current research suggests that about 5% of patients with pituitary adenomas have inherited this condition. Some of these patients belong to FIPA or Familial Isolated Pituitary Adenoma families. Our understanding of FIPA is constantly evolving and we hope that this website will be a valuable resource for FIPA patients, their families and the health care professionals who care for them.
Please use this website to find out more about the pituitary gland, and how FIPA affects it. You’ll also find useful links to patient support groups, information about the disease, and doctors will find up to date medical research data on FIPA. Please contact us if you have any suggestions to improve the site.
A Tall Story:
Unravelling The Genetics Behind Charles Byrne
On the 23rd November 2011 Prof Korbonits gave a lecture at the Royal College of Surgeons in London. She addressed members of the public including many patients about "A Tall Story: unravelling the genetics behind Charles Byrne – ‘the Irish Giant’". Mr Holland, a patient who has the same common ancestor as the ‘the Irish Giant’ and also suffers from the same disease, also gave a personal account of the disease.