Sheehan Syndrom L. Haddock
Sheehan Syndrom L. Haddock
Sheehan Syndrom L. Haddock
38
SHEEHANS SYNDROME
L. Haddock
INTRODUCTION
In his excellent publications dating from 1938 to
1968, Sheehan described the natural history,
clinical signs and pathological findings of the
syndrome which bears his name and results from
postpartum necrosis of the anterior lobe of the
pituitary gland110. The exact pathogenesis of the
disease is not well understood, for many women
who suffer severe hemorrhage at delivery apparently escape damage to the anterior pituitary.
Although infrequently reported in the US
literature, this clinical entity was the most common cause of hypopituitarism among indigent
women of Puerto Rico in the decade of the
1950s to the late 1960s. During that period, 100
cases were diagnosed in the hospital attached to
the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine. Of these, 72 were diagnosed from 1960 to
1970 and came under our medical supervision.
The clinical and endocrinological evaluations of
50 of the 72 cases which were available to close
follow-up have been published11. This review
summarizes these findings and comments on
the condition.
RESULTS
Clinical data
Of 28 patients diagnosed between 1951 and
1959, 16 died of cortisol insufficiency precipitated by concurrent illnesses. In contrast, only
two patients died in the group diagnosed
between 1960 and 1970. This marked decrease
in mortality was secondary to a better and
regular follow-up and an improvement in
their education regarding the nature and
life-endangering risks of the disease.
Selective hypopituitarism
TSH deficiency
HGH and gonadotropin
deficiency
HGH and ACTH deficiency
HGH, ACTH and gonadotropin
deficiency
43
86
7
1
14
2
2
3
4
6
353
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POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
Number Percentage
Delivery
Home
Local hospital
Bleeding in pregnancy
Postpartum
Antepartum
No history of bleeding
Pregnancies complicated by bleeding
One (last)
More than one and no bleeding
in last
More than one and bleeding in
last
Source of bleeding
Retained placenta
Placenta abruption
Placenta previa
Abortion
Vaginal laceration
Uterine atony
Subarachnoid hemorrhage and
septic shock
Information not available
Shock
Present
Absent
Unknown
Subsequent pregnancies after
episode causing disease
29
21
58
42
43
5
2
86
10
4
24
8
48
16
18
36
21
3
2
1
1
4
1
42
6
4
2
2
8
2
16
32
34
7
9
68
14
10
16
Percentage
Gonadal insufficiency
Failure to lactate
Loss of libido
Amenorrhea
Breast atrophy
Vaginal atrophy
Uterine atrophy
94
86
84
88
74
88
86
Cortisol insufficiency
Anorexia
Weight loss
Asthenia, weakness
Cachexia
96
72
80
98
6
Thyroid deficiency
Cold intolerance
Dry skin
Hypoactive DTRs
Myxedematous facies
88
94
94
44
354
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100
98
98
92
4
4
Sheehans syndrome
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POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
non-responders had a severe form of the disease. The inadequate response to TSH tended
to correlate better with the severity of the disease than with the duration of the illness. The
euthyroid group had a normal response to TSH.
The PBI pre- and post-TSH was measured in
24 patients (15 already treated with sodium
levothyroxine in whom it was discontinued 3
weeks before testing and six, all hypothyroid,
but not treated; three were euthyroid). In the
three euthyroid patients, the increase in PBI
ranged from 1.4 to 2.6 g/dl. The six hypothyroid patients had never been treated and the
severity of their disease ranged from mild to
severe. The change in PBI from the basal value
was either decreased or had an insignificant rise
in the three patients with myxedema. In the
three patients with mild to moderate hypothyroidism, as well as in four of the patients
receiving treatment, the increase in PBI corresponded to that seen in euthyroid patients; the
remaining 11 had an insignificant or negligible
change in PBI post-TSH.
Osteoporosis
When these patients were first studied, the technology for bone densitometry was not available.
When it became available, Aguil13 proceeded
to study a group of these patients still under our
care using single photon absorptiometry. Bone
mineral density, measured at the distal third of
the non-dominant arm using a Norland SPA
densitometer, showed in 40 of these patients
that their bone mineral content and bone mineral density were significantly lower than that of
age- and sex-matched controls in Puerto Rico.
These patients received thyroid and adrenal
physiologic replacement therapy but no estrogen replacement therapy. Twenty-three of these
patients were enrolled in a longitudinal bone
study with the aim of studying changes in bone
mineral content (BMC) with passing time. At a
mean of 5.5 years, ten (43.5%) had increased
their BMC (Group 1), nine had decreased
BMC (Group 2), and four remained
unchanged. Group 1 had initial BMC
measurements that were significantly lower
(0.578 0.04 g/cm) than those in Group 2
(0.764 0.03 g/cm). The age of Group 1 was
65.5 2.6 years and that of Group 2 was
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Sheehans syndrome
357
379
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POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
358
380
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Sheehans syndrome
359
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POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE
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Sheehans syndrome
International Congress of Public Health, 2004
(abstract)
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