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HYPOTHALAMIC‐PITUITARY FUNCTION FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF INTRACRANIAL TUMOURS
Author(s) -
HARROP J. S.,
DAVIES T. J.,
CAPRA L. G.,
MARKS V.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
clinical endocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1365-2265
pISSN - 0300-0664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2265.1976.tb01960.x
Subject(s) - endocrine system , medicine , endocrinology , radiation therapy , hypopituitarism , pituitary gland , hormone , growth hormone , pituitary hormones , endocrine gland , growth hormone deficiency
SUMMARY Hypothalamic‐pituitary function was examined in seventeen patients treated in the past for extrasellar intracranial tumours. All patients had received a course of external cranial irradiation. Biochemical abnormalities of endocrine function were present in almost all of the patients. In particular, the growth hormone response to insulin induced hypoglycaemic stress was impaired in eleven out of fifteen patients. Preliminary data from a group of seven patients with intracranial tumours prior to radiotherapy are also presented. The possibility that cranial irradiation causes hypothalamic‐pituitary dysfunction is discussed. The results suggest that endocrine assessment should be considered in patients who have been treated for intracranial tumours, even in the absence of direct pituitary involvement.