Clinical characteristics and risk factors for concurrent infection in adult patients with hypopituitarism / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the clinical characteristics and risk factors of concurrent infection in adult patients with hypopituitarism (HP).Methods:Clinical data of patients diagnosed with HP in Fuyang People′s Hospital from October 2016 to August 2020 were collected. Patients were divided into infected group and non-infected group according to whether they were co-infected, and the differences in clinical characteristics between the two groups were compared. The risk factors of infection in HP patients were analyzed by binary logistic regression.Results:The top three clinical manifestations of 64 HP patients were decreased libido; lack of energy, fear of cold, and poor appetite; hyponatremia. Etiological analysis of 64 HP patients 23 cases of Sheehan′s syndrome, 14 cases of postoperative brain tumors (pituitary adenoma, craniopharyngioma, meningioma), 8 cases of idiopathic, 7 cases of pituitary adenoma, 8 cases of pituitary volume and morphology changes, and 4 cases of empty sella turcica. 40.32%(25/62) of patients with adrenal axis dysfunction received glucocorticoid replacement therapy, with 80%(20/25) receiving prednisone and 20%(5/25) receiving hydrocortisone. The replacement dose was 2.5-25(6.77±3.90)mg of prednisone equivalent dose. 37.70%(23/61) of patients with low thyroid axis function received thyroid hormone replacement therapy, of which 52.17%(12/23) free thyroxine (FT4) levels were still lower than the lower normal limit. 20%(2/10) of males ≤60 years old and 5.56%(1/18) of females≤50 years old received hormone replacement therapy for patients with hypogonadism of the gonadal axis. Among 64 HP patients included, 29 were co-infected (infected group) and 35 were not co-infected (non infected group). There was no significant difference between the infected group and the non infected group in gender, etiology, number of pituitary axis involved, glucocorticoid replacement therapy dose, thyroid hormone replacement therapy dose, and sex hormone replacement therapy rate (all P>0.05). Compared with the non infected group, the infected group was older, had a longer course of disease, lower diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and albumin levels, with statistically significant difference (all P<0.05), while the other indicators showed no statistically significant difference (all P>0.05). The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that age, course of disease, occupation, and albumin level were the influencing factors of HP complicated infection (all P<0.05). Conclusions:The most common cause of pituitary dysfunction in adults is Sheehan′s syndrome; Adult HP patients who are older, have a longer course of disease, work as farmers, and have hypoalbuminemia are more likely to develop concurrent infections.