ABSTRACT
@EN Pituitary insufficiency can be caused by various diseases. The present study was performed on Korean patients with pituitary insufficiency, who were examined from January 1982 to June 1991. Cases under hormone treatment or cases with
hypopituitarism
developed after surgery or radiotherapy on the pituitary gland were excluded in this study. Two hundred forty seven cases with pituitary insufficiency, which was confirmed by high resolution sella CT scan and combined pituitary stimulation test,
were
classified basing on their primary causes.
@ES The results were as follows:
@EN 1) Among 247 cases with pituitary insufficiency, 169 cases (68.4%) were pituitary adenoma, 64 cases (25.9%) ischemic necrosis of pituitary gland, 3 cases (1.2%) head trauma, and 11 cases (4.5%) idiopathic.
2) Seventy two out of 93 male patients with pituitary insufficiency (77.4%) were pituitary adenoma, with the most prevalent age being the 4 th or 5 th decade.
3) Eighty one out of 154 female patients with pituitary insufficiency (51.6%) were pituitary adnoma and 57 cases (37.0%) were Sheehan's syndrome. Most pituitary tumors were found in the 3rd decade but Sheehan's syndrome were found in the 6 th
decade.
4) There was no significant change in number of the annual cases with Sheehan's syndrome.
5) Pan-or near total hypopituitarism were observed in 86.1% of cases with Sheehan's syndrome and in 40.4% of cases with pituitary insufficiency caused by tumors.
It can be concluded that the most common cause of pituitary insufficiency in Korea is pituitary tumor. However, Sheehan's syndrome is the main cause of pituitary insufficiency in female patients after age of 40. And the degree of pituitary
insufficiency
in cases with Sheehan's syndrome is more serious that that in pituitary tumor. (J Kor Soc Endocrinol 8:390~397, 1993)
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