ESPE Abstracts

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is advisable in all patients with GH deficiency (GHD). MRI pituitary morphology has important clinical implications, both in terms of diagnostic accuracy and long-term prognosis; indeed, when MRI findings are appropriately interpreted, they clearly represent a gold standard to investigate the etiology of GHD.

Objective and hypotheses: To evaluate frequency and type of MRI anomalies in children with GHD, after diagnosis was established.

Method: These is retrospective and analytical study about 124 children follow in our consultation between 2009 and 2013, which diagnosis of GHD was establish with two stimulation tests. All these children were examined by MRI; The presence, size, location, and morphologic characteristics of the stalk, the neurohypophysis, and the adenohypophysis were recorded in each case. The age ranged between 2 and 16 years. The mean age was 11±5 years, we collect 32 girls and 92 boys with sex ratio 2.8 boy/one girl.

Results: We objective 45% children with normal MRI, whose was identified idiopathic GHD. 55% of our population had anomalies the most important was pituitary hypoplasia in 30% of cases, the association of two or three anomalies was found in ~16% of MRI. The truncated stalk syndrome which is defined as an association of three anomalies was found in eight cases. Tumors was found in six cases with craniopharyngioma, germinome, and astrocytoma. The location of the neurohypophysis was ectopic in 8% of cases.

Conclusion: MRI is the technique of choice in the diagnosis of children with hypopituitarism. Marked differences in MR pituitary gland morphology suggest different etiologies of GHD and different prognoses.