Correlative factors of hypopituitarism in patients with non-sellar intracranial tumors

Abstract

Objective To analyze the correlative factors of hypopituitarism in patients with intracranial non-sellar tumors. Methods Eighty-three patients with intracranial non-sellar tumors, admitted to our hospital from May 2014 to April 2015, were included in our study; their clinical data were retrospectively analyzed. The status of pituitary function was assessed according to the level of preoperative serum hormone. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were employed to analyze the correlations of preoperative hypopituitarism with age, gender, hypertension, epilepsy history, course of disease, mass effect of tumor, tumor location, intracranial pressure (ICP), and composition of cerebrospinal fluid. Results Before surgery, 30 showed hypopituitarism, accounting for 36.14%: 23 had deficiency in one pituitary axe and 7 had multi-axial deficiency. Univariate analysis showed that high ICP (ICP>200 mmH2O), acute or sub-acute course (≤3 months) and presence of mass effect by non-sellar brain tumor were the risk factors of hypopituitarism (P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that intracranial mass effect in patients with non-sellar brain tumor was an independent risk factor (OR=3.197, 95%CI=1.085-9.423, P=0.035). Conclusion Hypopituitarism has high morbidity in patients with non-sellar brain tumor; intracranial mass effect is an independent risk factor for hypopituitarism. Key words: Intracranial tumor; Sellar; Hypopituitarism