Disorders of Endocrine Function After Major Head Injury

Clark, John D. A (1989) Disorders of Endocrine Function After Major Head Injury. MD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This study was instigated after the diagnosis of post-traumatic hypopituitarism in a young female under our care, who had sustained a closed head injury in a motor cycle accident (Case 1, see below). A review of the world literature revealed only 47 reported cases of post-traumatic hypopituitarism, with the majority occurring in the last 20 years (Edwards and Clark, 1986). Surprisingly, we were able to collect a further 5 cases over a relatively short period of time, suggesting that it might be a more frequent complication than is currently recognised. It is of interest that the low prevalence of clinical hypopituitarism is in contrast to the frequent finding of damage to the hypothalamus and pituitary by pathologists after fatal head injury (Daniel, Prichard 6 Treip, 1959; Ceballos, 1966; Kornblum and Fisher, 1969; Treip, 1970; Crompton, 1971; Harper et al, 1986). As little endocrine information was available a large prospective study was undertaken to investigate abnormalities in endocrine function after head injury.

• Item Type: Thesis (MD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Medicine, Endocrinology
• Date of Award: 1989
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1989-76960
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 14 Jan 2020 09:26
• Last Modified: 14 Jan 2020 09:26
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/76960