[Case report of a rare cause of hypopituitarism]

Hypopituitarism is an illness of the hypophysis with deficit of one or more pituitary hormones. It can be congenital or acquired. Etiologic factors of acquired hypophyseal insufficiency are numerous. Pituitary gland infarction is a frequent cause of hypopituitarism. Extracorporeal circulation, applied in cardiac surgery procedures, may also, by mechanism of ischemic necrosis, cause hypophyseal lesions and development of hypopituitarism. This paper presents a case of a female patient suffering from panhypopituitarism which developed after extracorporeal circulation during aortocoronary bypass surgery. The authors point to the extracorporeal circulation as a rare etiologic factor in development of hypopituitarism, as well as unusual clinical picture with dominant psychic disorders and diagnostic and treatment procedures.