A magnetic resonance study of 39 children with different causes of short stature

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between Magnetic Resonance (MR) findings and the presence of isolated growth hormone deficiency (IGHD) or multiple pituitary hormone deficiency (MPHD). MATERIAL AND METHODS: 39 children, 27 boys and 12 girls (mean age 9.6 years) were enrolled. The growth hormone deficiency and MPHD were defined by standard laboratory methods. MR scans of the hypothalamo-hypophyseal tract were carried out on all patients before the therapy. Perinatal histories were reviewed. RESULTS: The pituitary anterior lobe was considered small in 13/39 (33%). Twenty-six of 39 (66%) patients did not show any abnormalities of the hypothalamohypophyseal tract. An ectopic neurohypophysis was found in 8/39 patients (20%). Only 2 patients among those with an ectopic neurohypophysis showed a small anterior pituitary lobe. Thirty-three of 39 (84.6%) patients showed IGHD while 6/39 (15.4%) patients showed MPHD. Twenty-eight of 39 (71%) patients had a severe deficiency while 11/39 (28%) patients had a moderate deficiency. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the usefulness of MRI in the diagnostic and therapeutic approach to short stature in children; in fact 48% of patients in our series showed MR findings reasonably related to hormonal deficiency.