Clinical investigation of traumatic pituitary insufficiency after traumatic brain injury / 中华急诊医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate dynamic change of anterior pituitary hormones (APHs), thyroid func-tion (TF) and genital hormones (GnHs) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and their clinical signifi-cance. Method APHs, TF and GnH were tested in 93 patients with TBI,who were admitted to Zhejiang Provin-cial People's Hopital from March 2006 to June 2007. Patients with primary injury in the hypothalamic and pituitary regions, as detected by CT and/or MR/examination, as well as those with tumors or immune diseases in the CNS,endocrine or urinogenital systems, were excluded. The clinical data were analyzed according to Glasgow coma scores (GCS), type and degree of injury, and whether there was any secondary cerebral injury. Twenty healthy people acted as controls. The data were analyzed by the Hotelling T2 test and t-tests using SAS 11.5. A P value of less than 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results The levels of adrenocortieotropic hormone (ACTH),luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin (PRL) were markedly higher in all 93 TBI patients than controls, while those of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), thyroid hormone T3,T4 and FT3 were significantly lower in TBI pa-tients in the early stage after injury than in those at follow-up and controls (P<0.05). The ACTH and PRL val-ues reached (33.33±6.86) and (31.74±5.51), respectively, and the LH value was (9.48±1.14) in the secondary cerebral injury group.The TSH value (1.26±0.17) in the brain injury group was significantly lower than those in controls (P<0.05). With the exception of TSH, PRL, testosterone (T) and E2, other APHs were markedly lower in TBI patients at following-up than in controls (P<0.05). The incidence of traumatic hypothala-mus-pituitary insufficiency (THPI) associated with low levels of more than three APHs was 3.2%, while 13.8% of THPI patients showed low levels of at least one APH. The ratio of sick euthyroid syndrome (SETS) was 14.0%. Conclusions A low level of a single APH is the prevalent pattern in THPI patients. Secondary cerebral injury, such as acute high intracranial pressure, brain edema and ischemia after TBI, may be the chief causes of THPI. Early hyperprolactinemia is an important indication for presaging THPI. The dynamic levels of neurcen-docrine hormones can serve as an important index for determining the suitability of TBI patients for treatment with hormone therapy.