Hypopituitarism occurs frequency in clinical endocrine practice and causes a wide variety of symptoms and signs which are influenced by the aetiology and rate of onset of the disorder. When hypopituitarism is slow in onset, the diagnosis may be delayed, often for many years. Hypopituitarism may be associated either with pathological processes that destroy the pituitary itself or with those that destroy the hypothalamus and thus interfere with the hypothalamic hormone control of the pituitary gland.
Although symptoms may be caused by local pressure effects in patients with a pituitary or parapituitary tumour, the clinical picture of hypopituitarism results chiefly from pituitary hormone deficiency.
