Evaluation of pituitary functions during acute phase of head trauma

AIM: To evaluate the functional outcome of the pituitary gland after the traumatic brain injury and to present the pituitary functional changes during the acute phase of the trauma in order to identify the possible factors. METHODS:The study included records of 30 patients (22 male and 8 female) between September 2009 and July 2010.The patients were allocated into three groups according to their Glasgow Coma Scale as severe, moderate and mild traumas.Data including the age, gender, aetiology, hospital stay time and the pituitary hormone levels was analyzed.A p value <0.05 was considered signifi cant. RESULTS:The male patients (40.5±21.76)with head injury were signifi cantly younger than the female patients (49.13±27.93).During the acute phase of the head injury, there were growth hormone, ACTH and LH/FSH defi ciencies in 36.6%,20% and 20% of the patients, respectively.The leading causes of the traumatic brain injuries were falling from high altitude (46.6%) and motor vehicle accidents (33.3%).Higher ACTH levels, and lower Glasgow Coma Score and lower prolactin levels caused longer hospital stay times. CONCLUSION:Although the severity of traumatic brain injury is considered as the major risk factor leading to the development of post-traumatic hypopituitarism, a milder injury may also cause hypopituitarism.All head trauma patients should be followed up long enough in order to rule out the posttraumatic hypopituitarism.