Untreated hypopituitarism due to absence of the pituitary stalk with normal adult height: report of two cases.
Patients with congenital multiple pituitary hormones deficiency (MPHD) occasionally present with pituitary stalk interruption and ectopic posterior lobe on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Very rarely normal adult height despite growth hormone deficiency (GHD) has been described in these patients. We report two patients with evidence of congenital MPHD, who remained untreated until adulthood. They both failed to develop spontaneous puberty, and they demonstrated very low growth velocity until adulthood when they continued to grow, with a final height of 176 and 169 cm when they sought medical attention in our department at the age of 45 and 33 yr, respectively. At that time a hypoplastic pituitary, absence of pituitary stalk, and ectopic posterior pituitary lobe were found on MRI, and the laboratory investigations, including dynamic tests for pituitary hormone reserve, revealed MPHD with severe GHD. In conclusion, these cases illustrate that very rarely patients with untreated MPHD can reach normal adult height. Some postulations about the pathophysiology of this phenomenon are discussed.
Papastathopoulou
Leda
L
Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, Evangelismos Hospital, 10676 Athens, Greece.
Tzanela
Marinella
M
Vlassopoulou
Vania
V
Vassiliadi
Dimitra
D
Thalassinos
Nikolaos
N
D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology*; D002828:Choristoma; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency; D006801:Humans; D007018:Hypopituitarism / Q000151:congenital* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000502:physiology; D010904:Pituitary Gland, Posterior / Q000473:pathology
D013006:Growth Hormone