MR FINDINGS IN GROWTH-HORMONE DEFICIENCY - CORRELATION WITH SEVERITY OF HYPOPITUITARISM

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Growth hormone deficiency may present as an is olated deficit (IGHD) or in association with multiple deficiencies (MP HD). Previous studies have not compared the MR imaging findings with t he severity of hypopituitarism. Our purpose was to determine whether M R imaging can distinguish between IGHD and MPHD. METHODS: Forty-four p atients with growth hormone deficiency who were examined by MR imaging were included in this retrospective study. On the basis of the endocr inologic findings, 21 were determined to have IGHD and 23 to have MPHD , The presence, size, location, and morphologic characteristics of the stalk, the neurohypophysis, and the adenohypophysis were recorded in each case. Findings in the two groups were compared. Statistical signi ficance was determined by t-test. RESULTS: The stalk was normal in one patient with IGHD and in none of those with MPHD; it was truncated or thin in 19 patients with IGHD (90%) and in only one with MPHD (4%); i t was absent in 22 patients with MPHD (96%) and in only one patient wi th IGHD (5%), These differences between the two groups were highly sig nificant. In 81% of the IGHD patients and in 91% of the MPHD patients the location of the neurohypophysis was ectopic. This difference betwe en the two groups was not significant, Among IGHD patients, the adenoh ypophysis was of normal size in 13 patients (62%), small in six (29%), and absent in two (9%); the corresponding findings in MPHD patients w ere seven (30%), six (26%), and 10 (44%). CONCLUSION: The majority of IGHD patients had a truncated or thin stalk and a normal or small aden ohypophysis. An absent stalk and adenohypophysis are characteristic of MPHD, MR imaging can contribute to the prediction of the pattern and severity of hypopituitarism in patients with growth hormone deficiency .