Rest-activity patterns in children with hypopituitarism.
OBJECTIVE
Physical lesions in the region of the suprachiasmatic nuclei, which are the site of a circadian clock, result in abnormal circadian rhythmicity in animals, yet the extent of biological rhythm problems in individuals with anatomic or functional lesions in the hypothalamic-pituitary region are largely unknown. To address this issue, we examined patterns of rest and activity of children with hypopituitarism.


METHODS
Children who were between the ages of 2 and 18 years and had the diagnosis of panhypopituitarism were evaluated. Twenty children were studied, including children with septo-optic dysplasia (SOD), congenital hypopituitarism, brain tumors, closed head trauma, and head irradiation. For assessing patterns of activity, individuals wore Actiwatches for 3-4 weeks to measure patterns of gross motor activity.


RESULTS
Seventeen children had normal patterns of rest and activity, with an average period length of 24.01 +/- 0.01 hours. Three children, including 2 with SOD and 1 with a hypothalamic germinoma, showed abnormal activity patterns in which there was not consolidated rest at night. One patient with an optic glioma had nonentrained circadian phase.


CONCLUSIONS
A proportion of children with hypopituitarism have abnormal daily rest-activity patterns. Children with anterior hypothalamic tumors and SOD seem to be at risk for circadian system dysfunction.
Rivkees
Scott A
SA
Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. Scott.Rivkees@yale.edu
D000204:Activity Cycles / Q000502:physiology; D000293:Adolescent; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D021081:Chronobiology Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000503:physiopathology; D003397:Craniopharyngioma / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D018237:Germinoma / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007018:Hypopituitarism / Q000151:congenital / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D020339:Optic Nerve Glioma / Q000503:physiopathology; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D025962:Septo-Optic Dysplasia / Q000503:physiopathology