Panhypopituitarism: Case Report Correlating Clinical and Pathologic Findings

CORRELATION of physiologic abnormalities and anatomic changes in panhypopituitarism is difficult. Although many cases of this disease have been reported, there have been few in which currently available methods of evaluating endocrine function were accompanied by autopsy findings. This report describes fairly extensive physiologic studies in a female with panhypopituitarism and the subsequent autopsy findings. First admission: J. S. (Evans Memorial Hospital #320,431), a 46-year-old Italian female entered on July 31, 1946, in semi-stupor. The history as obtained from a relative revealed that since extraction of an abscessed tooth three months previously, she had been bedridden and incontinent of urine. A productive cough and a fever developed one day prior to admission. The patient was married at the age of 21 and divorced at 36. She had never been pregnant. Menarche was at 11; periods had been irregular for several years and had ceased, as far as could be determined, one year prior to admission. She had been listless, apathetic, easily fatigued, anorexic, and had lost some weight during this year. There was no history suggesting attacks of hypoglycemia.