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What causes pituitary insufficiency?
Almost any disease that disturbs the normal interaction between the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland can produce anterior pituitary insufficiency. The most common cause of hypopituitarism is pituitary dysfunction associated with a pituitary adenoma and/or the effect of its treatment (surgery and/or radiation therapy). Among patients with pituitary macroadenomas, one third will present with one or more pituitary hormone deficiencies. Other frequent causes of hypopituitarism are shown below
Etiology of Organic Hypopituitarism
| Neoplastic |
| Pituitary adenoma or carcinoma Metastatic disease Hematologic malignancies Craniopharyngioma Parasellar masses (meningioma, germinoma, glioma) |
| Traumatic |
| Surgery Radiation Traumatic brain injury |
| Vascular |
| Sheehan’s syndrome Apoplexy Aneurysm |
| Infiltrative/Inflammatory |
| Hypophysitis Sarcoidosis Histiocytosis X Hemochromatosis |
| Infectious |
| Bacterial abscess Tuberculosis Fungal infections Parasitic infections |
