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. 2019 Jul-Aug;35(4):1149-1154.
doi: 10.12669/pjms.35.4.174.

Hypopituitarism other than sellar and parasellar tumors or traumatic brain injury assessed in a tertiary hospital

Sarwar Malik  1 , Zareen Kiran  2 , Muhammad Owais Rashid  3 , Minaz Mawani  4 , Asma Gulab  5 , Muhammad Qamar Masood  6 , Najmul Islam  7
Affiliations

Hypopituitarism other than sellar and parasellar tumors or traumatic brain injury assessed in a tertiary hospital

Sarwar Malik et al. Pak J Med Sci. 2019 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Objective: Data regarding the etiology, clinical and biochemical patterns in hypopituitarism is scant for Pakistan. We describe the characteristics of patients with hypopituitarism other than sellar and parasellar tumors or traumatic brain injury from a tertiary care center in Pakistan.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective descriptive study in the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. We studied all patients presenting with hypopituitarism, between January 2004 and December 2013. Clinical, hormonal and imaging data pertinent to the study was collected according to inclusion criteria.

Results: Forty-two patients presented to the endocrinology clinics at the Aga Khan University Hospital during the study period. Thirty-seven patients (88.1%) were females. Mean age ± standard deviation of the participants was 53.8 ± 14.7 years. Sixteen patients had secondary infertility and all were females; a majority of patients in this group had Sheehan's syndrome (n=8) followed by empty sella syndrome (n=3), partial empty sella syndrome (n=2), idiopathic cause (n=2) and tuberculoma (n=1). Eighteen females (48.6%) reported inability to lactate.

Conclusions: Non-traumatic hypopituitarism was more common in women, with Sheehan syndrome being the most common cause of hypopituitarism in our study (35.7%). Secondary hypothyroidism was the most common hormonal deficiency. The most commonly reported symptom was weakness.

Keywords: Empty sella syndrome; Hypopituitarism; Panhypopituitarism; Sheehan’s syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest: Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Causes of hypopituitarism in patients presenting to a tertiary care hospital, n (%).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percentage of patients with documented hormonal deficiencies in Sheehan`s Syndrome and others (n=42).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Age distribution of patients with different hormonal deficiencies (n= 42).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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