EFFECTS OF CONTINUOUS GHRH INFUSION ON GH SECRETION IN GH-DEFICIENT PATIENTS WITH HYPOTHALAMIC-PITUITARY ABNORMALITIES

To evaluate residual pituitary GH, GH responses to continuous 180-min infusion of increasing doses of GHRH 1-29 followed by iv bolus injection of GHRH were studied in 28 hypopituitary patients, 21 of whom had pituitary abnormalities on MRI. Pituitary hypoplasia, stalk agenesis and ectopic posterior pituitary lobe in 7 patients with isolated GH deficiency (IGHD) and 6 with multiple pituitary hormone deficiencies (group I); isolated pituitary hypoplasia in 8 IGHD (group II); normal pituitary gland morphology in 7 IGHD (group III). Pituitary volume was not significantly different in the groups I and II.