Hypophysitis - A Review of Fourteen Cases

Primary hypophysitis is a rare condition, usually diagnosed retrospectively after surgery for a suspected pituitary adenoma. Improved awareness of the condition and better imaging have resulted in more patients being diagnosed without surgery.

A retrospective chart analysis study of hypophysitis from a single secondary endocrine and neurosurgical referral center in eastern India was conducted between 1999 and 2021 to assess the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges posed by these patients.

Fourteen patients presented to the center between 1999 and 2021. All patients had an MRI of the head with contrast and a full clinical workup. Twelve patients had headache, of whom one had progressive visual impairment. One patient had severe weakness, attributed later to hypoadrenalism and one had sixth nerve palsy.

Six patients had glucocorticoids as their primary treatment, four refused treatment, and one was on glucocorticoid replacement. One patient had decompressive surgery because of progressive visual loss, and two had surgery because of a presumptive diagnosis of pituitary adenoma. There was no difference between the patients who had glucocorticoids and those who did not.

Our data suggest that it is possible to identify most patients with hypophysitis on clinical and radiological grounds. In the largest published series on this subject and in ours, glucocorticoid treatment did not alter the outcome.