Two Cases of Acromegaly with Empty Sella.

Cho, Hyun Sun; Sohn, Tae Seo; Lee, So Young; Kim, Kyoung Hee; Park, Yu Kyung; Lee, Jung Min; Son, Hyun Shik

doi:2006.21.6.572

Endocrinol Metab > Volume 21(6); 2006 > Article

Case Report

Journal of Korean Endocrine Society 2006;21(6):572-576.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3803/jkes.2006.21.6.572 Published online December 1, 2006.

Two Cases of Acromegaly with Empty Sella.

Hyun Sun Cho, Tae Seo Sohn, So Young Lee, Kyoung Hee Kim, Yu Kyung Park, Jung Min Lee, Hyun Shik Son

Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea.

Abstract

An empty sella may develop as a consequence of a primary congenital weakness of the diaphragm for which no secondary cause is evident. A secondary empty sella may develop after infarction of a pituitary adenoma or because of surgical or radiation-induced damage to the sellar diaphragm. Acromegaly is caused by growth hormone (GH) hypersecretion and the resultant elevated levels of circulating insulin like growth factor-1. The underlying abnormality in more than 98% of cases is hypersecretion of GH by a pituitary GH-producing tumor. Necrosis and hemorrhage, which frequently occur in pituitary adenomas, may lead to complete or partial disappearance of the adenoma, and subsequently, to an empty sella. We report two cases of acromegaly with empty sella, and the patients had no symptoms of pituitary apoplexy.

Key Words: Acromegaly, Empty sella, Growth hormone