Evaluation of the pituitary gland in idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism

Purpose: Evaluation of the pituitary gland has been carried out in idiopath ic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) to test the potential of MR imaging in differentiating IHH patients from normals. Material and Methods: Thirty-seven patients (aged 18-30 years), and 20 volu nteers (aged 20-30 years) were studied by T1-weighted MR imaging. Length (L -A and L-P), height (H), width (W), area (A(A) and A(P)), and volume (V-1A, V-1B V-2A, V-2P) Of the pituitary gland were determined. (Subscripts P and A refer to measurements made with and without the posterior lobe, respecti vely.) V-1 and V-2 were estimated using two different methods. Results: In the control group, L-B W and V-2A exhibited significant differe nces between female and male volunteers. While W was the only parameter tha t did not show significant difference between normals and patients (in bath men and women), all other parameters except L-B H and A(P) showed statisti cally significant differences between normals and IHH patients in both male s and females. While L-P was significantly different between normals and pa tients (men), H and A(P) were significantly different between normals and p atients only in the female group. Conclusion: Correlation analysis between various parameters has shown that L-A can be used for evaluating the pituitary in both the male and female IH H patients.