frequency and clinical characteristics of Sheehan's syndrome in north-eastern Libya

ABSTRACT

A retrospective study for a period of 11 years in <<7th April>> Hospital, Benghazi, Libya, identified 54 cases of Sheehan's Syndrome. Postpartum haemorrhage was present in 50, and antepartum haemorrhage in 4 patients. The interval between the start the symptoms and diagnosis ranged from 1 to 20 years. There were symptoms and signs of hypogonadism in 100%, hypothyroidism in 94%, and hypoadrenalism in 92%. Hormonal investigations revealed gonadotrope loss in 100%, thyrotrope loss in 89%, and corticotrope loss in 80%, for these patients for whom hormonal data were available. The incidence of Sheehan's Syndrome was 12.03 per million in 1980 and 7.97 in 1990 which is much lower than available figure in the literature. This is due to improvements in health care system particularly in obstetric care