Evaluation of the Pituitary Gland in Idiopathic Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism

Abstract

Purpose: Evaluation of the pituitary gland has been carried out in idiopathic hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (IHH) to test the potential of MR imaging in differentiating IHH patients from normals.

Material and Methods: Thirty-seven patients (aged 18-30 years), and 20 volunteers (aged 20-30 years) were studied by T1-weighted MR imaging. Length (L_A and L_P), height (H), width (W), area (A_A and A_P), and volume (V_1A, V_1B V_2A, V_2P) of the pituitary gland were determined. (Subscripts P and A refer to measurements made with and without the posterior lobe, respectively.) V₁ and V₂ were estimated using two different methods.

Results: In the control group, L_B W and V_2A exhibited significant differences between female and male volunteers. While W was the only parameter that did not show significant difference between normals and patients (in both men and women), all other parameters except L_B H and A_P showed statistically significant differences between normals and IHH patients in both males and females. While L_P was significantly different between normals and patients (men), H and A_P were significantly different between normals and patients only in the female group.

Conclusion: Correlation analysis between various parameters has shown that L_A can be used for evaluating the pituitary in both the male and female IHH patients.

Key Words:

• Pituitary, idiopathic hypogonadism
• MR imaging