Endocrine function in children with intrasellar and suprasellar neoplasms: before and after therapy
C. B. Newman, L. S. Levine and M. I. New
The records of 23 children with intrasellar and suprasellar neoplasms were
reviewed for the results of endocrine evaluations before and after
treatment with surgery, irradiation, and/or chemotherapy. Deficiency of at
least one pituitary hormone was present in 13 patients before treatment and
in 22 patients after treatment. Growth hormone deficiency, the most common
endocrine abnormality in the pretreatment period, was present in 12 of 17
patients before treatment and in 17 of 21 patients after treatment. In the
posttreatment period, thyroid-stimulating hormone deficiency was as common
as growth hormone deficiency and was found in 17 of 21 patients evaluated.
Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal dysfunction and deficiencies of
adrenocorticotropic hormone and antidiuretic hormone also occurred in both
the pretreatment and posttreatment periods, but were less common.
