Genetic Etiology of Congenital Hypopituitarism

Review
In: Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000.
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Excerpt

Congenital hypopituitarism refers to a deficiency of one or more pituitary hormones resulting from issues in fetal development. Embryological pituitary development involves a complex interplay of transcription factors, extrinsic and intrinsic to the oral ectoderm and neuroectoderm which develop to form the mature pituitary during early embryogenesis. Disruption of this process can result in isolated pituitary dysfunction, or effect nearby structures, such as the eye, olfactory bulbs, midline structures, and forebrain. Genetic causes make up an important portion of cases and have varying phenotypes even within identical mutations. This chapter provides an overview of pituitary development, and various causes of hypopituitarism including septo-optic dysplasia, syndromic and non-syndromic causes, isolated pituitary deficiencies, and syndromes associated with hypopituitarism. It also provides guidance on the investigation of genetic causes of hypopituitarism in the current genetic landscape. For complete coverage of all related areas of Endocrinology, please visit our on-line FREE web-text, WWW.ENDOTEXT.ORG.

Publication types

  • Review