Diversity of Pathological Conditions Affecting Pituitary Stalk
Pituitary stalk lesions (PSL) are a very rare pathology. The majority of conditions affecting the infundibulum do not present with clinically apparent symptoms, what makes the diagnosis difficult. The recognition might be also complicated by the non-specific and transient characteristics of hormonal...
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/8/1692 |
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| author | Łukasz Kluczyński Aleksandra Gilis-Januszewska Magdalena Godlewska Małgorzata Wójcik Agata Zygmunt-Górska Jerzy Starzyk Alicja Hubalewska-Dydejczyk |
| author_facet | Łukasz Kluczyński Aleksandra Gilis-Januszewska Magdalena Godlewska Małgorzata Wójcik Agata Zygmunt-Górska Jerzy Starzyk Alicja Hubalewska-Dydejczyk |
| author_sort | Łukasz Kluczyński |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Pituitary stalk lesions (PSL) are a very rare pathology. The majority of conditions affecting the infundibulum do not present with clinically apparent symptoms, what makes the diagnosis difficult. The recognition might be also complicated by the non-specific and transient characteristics of hormonal insufficiencies. In our study, we retrospectively analysed demographic, biochemical, and clinical long-term data of 60 consecutive, unselected adult patients (34 women and 26 men) with PSL diagnosed in the Department of Endocrinology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The diagnosis of PSL were categorized as confirmed, probable, or undetermined in 26, 26 and 8 patients, accordingly. Given the possible aetiology congenital, inflammatory, and neoplastic stalk lesions were diagnosed in 17, 15 and 20 patients, accordingly. In eight cases the underlying pathology remained undetermined. The most common pituitary abnormality was gonadal insufficiency diagnosed in 50.8% of cases. Diabetes insipidus was detected in 23.3% of cases. In 5% of patients the pituitary function recovered partially over time. Stalk lesions were extensively discussed in the context of the current literature. Based on the published data and our own experience a diagnostic algorithm has been proposed to help physicians with the management of patients with this challenging condition. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:19:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-afd0877b2024483cae9e830333291cb5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0383 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:19:38Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Clinical Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-afd0877b2024483cae9e830333291cb52023-11-21T15:37:18ZengMDPI AGJournal of Clinical Medicine2077-03832021-04-01108169210.3390/jcm10081692Diversity of Pathological Conditions Affecting Pituitary StalkŁukasz Kluczyński0Aleksandra Gilis-Januszewska1Magdalena Godlewska2Małgorzata Wójcik3Agata Zygmunt-Górska4Jerzy Starzyk5Alicja Hubalewska-Dydejczyk6Department of Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-008 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-008 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-008 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Paediatric and Adolescent Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-008 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Paediatric and Adolescent Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-008 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Paediatric and Adolescent Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-008 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 31-008 Krakow, PolandPituitary stalk lesions (PSL) are a very rare pathology. The majority of conditions affecting the infundibulum do not present with clinically apparent symptoms, what makes the diagnosis difficult. The recognition might be also complicated by the non-specific and transient characteristics of hormonal insufficiencies. In our study, we retrospectively analysed demographic, biochemical, and clinical long-term data of 60 consecutive, unselected adult patients (34 women and 26 men) with PSL diagnosed in the Department of Endocrinology, Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The diagnosis of PSL were categorized as confirmed, probable, or undetermined in 26, 26 and 8 patients, accordingly. Given the possible aetiology congenital, inflammatory, and neoplastic stalk lesions were diagnosed in 17, 15 and 20 patients, accordingly. In eight cases the underlying pathology remained undetermined. The most common pituitary abnormality was gonadal insufficiency diagnosed in 50.8% of cases. Diabetes insipidus was detected in 23.3% of cases. In 5% of patients the pituitary function recovered partially over time. Stalk lesions were extensively discussed in the context of the current literature. Based on the published data and our own experience a diagnostic algorithm has been proposed to help physicians with the management of patients with this challenging condition.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/8/1692pituitarystalkhypophysitisinfundibulumtumour |
| spellingShingle | Łukasz Kluczyński Aleksandra Gilis-Januszewska Magdalena Godlewska Małgorzata Wójcik Agata Zygmunt-Górska Jerzy Starzyk Alicja Hubalewska-Dydejczyk Diversity of Pathological Conditions Affecting Pituitary Stalk Journal of Clinical Medicine pituitary stalk hypophysitis infundibulum tumour |
| title | Diversity of Pathological Conditions Affecting Pituitary Stalk |
| title_full | Diversity of Pathological Conditions Affecting Pituitary Stalk |
| title_fullStr | Diversity of Pathological Conditions Affecting Pituitary Stalk |
| title_full_unstemmed | Diversity of Pathological Conditions Affecting Pituitary Stalk |
| title_short | Diversity of Pathological Conditions Affecting Pituitary Stalk |
| title_sort | diversity of pathological conditions affecting pituitary stalk |
| topic | pituitary stalk hypophysitis infundibulum tumour |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/10/8/1692 |
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