A 54-year-old woman presented with clinical and laboratory features of gonadal, adrenal and thyroid deficiency. Endocrinological investigation showed anterior pituitary failure, which was probably a result of panhypopituitarism following blood loss during childbirth 26 years previously. Sheehan's syndrome was diagnosed. Computerized tomography of the skull revealed an empty sella. We suggest that pituitary necrosis and involution allow penetration of cerebrospinal fluid to the sellar cavity through a defect in the diaphragm sella, causing formation of an empty sella.