PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Pääkkö, E
AU  - Talvensaari, K
AU  - Pyhtinen, J
AU  - Lanning, M
TI  - Decreased pituitary gland height after radiation treatment to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis evaluated by MR.
DP  - 1994 Mar 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 537--541
VI  - 15
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/15/3/537.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/15/3/537.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.1994 Mar 01; 15
AB  - PURPOSE To evaluate treatment-related changes in pituitary gland morphology after childhood cancer and to compare these findings with growth data. METHODS Forty-three survivors of childhood cancer were evaluated by cranial MR imaging. Twenty-nine of the patients had received radiation therapy to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis with doses of 10 to 46 Gy. The height of the pituitary gland was measured from midline sagittal images and compared with age- and sex-matched controls. Pituitary gland heights were compared with body height standard deviation scores in patients. RESULTS The patients who had received radiation therapy to the hypothalamic-pituitary axis had significantly smaller pituitary glands than patients in the nonirradiated group or their age- and sex-matched controls (mean, 3.5 mm versus 5.9 and 5.8 mm, respectively). They were also significantly shorter than patients in the nonirradiated group. CONCLUSION Radiation therapy to the hypothalamic-pituitary area may lead to poor growth of the pituitary gland and short stature.