[Suprasellar tumors in childhood, clinical and experimental investigations]

Suprasellar tumors frequently produce hypothalamic endocrine disorders. Impairment of endocrine function will usually persist and may even aggravate following surgical or radiological treatment. An animal model has been developed in order to learn how irreversible endocrine disorders develop as a result of tumor growth. Fogarty balloon catheters were inserted to dogs below the optic chiasm and filled with contrast medium. The balloon was emptied four weeks after surgery. The experiments demonstrate that impairment of hypothalamo-pituitary function is a two-stage process: Initially reversible secondary hypothyroidism will develop. During the second stage some animals develop chronic dysfunction of both thyroid and adrenocorticoid gland which is irreversible even after careful removal of the experimental tumor. In regard to human pathology this could mean that endocrine disorders in patients with suprasellar space occupying lesions are definitively irreversible, independent of the therapy applied.