ISSN 1662-4009 (online)

ESPE Yearbook of Paediatric Endocrinology (2020) 17 1.8 | DOI: 10.1530/ey.17.1.8

ESPEYB17 1. Pituitary and Neuroendocrinology Clinical Highlights (4 abstracts)

1.8. Should we assess pituitary function in children after a mild traumatic brain injury? A prospective study

Claire Briet , Karine Braun , Michel Lefranc , Patrick Toussaint , Bernard Boudailliez & Hélène Bony



To read the full abstract: Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2019 Mar 19;10:149. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2019.00149. eCollection 2019. PMID: 30941101.

It has known that severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause permanent pituitary dysfunction with variable rates, but what about mild TBI?

Briet et al. studied 109 children with a traumatic brain injury and Glasgow come scale (GCS) >12. Growth hormone deficiency (defined by stringent criteria: GH peak <20 mU/l in two tests, plus IGF-1 <-1SDS, plus delta height <0 SDS) was detected in only 2 out of 96 patients (˜2%) during the first year post-TBI. A further 5 patients had low prolactin levels. No clinical or biochemical parameters at the time of injury could predict the development of pituitary insufficiency.

The findings do not support the routine assessment of pituitary function following mild traumatic brain injury. However, since growth hormone deficiency occurred even in patients with GCS of 15, growth should be monitored carefully for at least 1 year post-mild TBI.

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