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Abstract

Neuroendocrine disturbances are common after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), but only a few data exist on long-term anterior pituitary deficiencies after brain injury. We present data from the Structured Data Assessment of Hypopituitarism after TBI and SAH, a multi-center study including 1242 patients. We studied a subgroup of 351 patients, who had sustained a TBI (245) or SAH (106) at least 1 year before endocrine assessment (range 1-55 years) in a separate analysis. The highest prevalence of neuroendocrine disorders was observed 1-2 years post-injury, and it decreased over time only to show another maximum in the long-term phase in patients with brain injury occurring >= 5 years prior to assessment. Gonadotropic and somatotropic insufficiencies were most common. In the subgroup from 1 to 2 years after brain injury (n = 126), gonadotropic insufficiency was the most common hormonal disturbance (19%, 12/63 men) followed by somatotropic insufficiency (11.5%, 7/61), corticotropic insufficiency (9.2%, 11/119), and thyrotropic insufficiency (3.3%, 4/122). In patients observed >= 5 years after brain injury, the prevalence of somatotropic insufficiency increased over time to 24.1%, whereas corticotropic and thyrotrophic insufficiency became less frequent (2.5% and 0%, respectively). The prevalence differed regarding the diagnostic criteria (laboratory values vs. physician's diagnosis vs. stimulation tests). Our data showed that neuroendocrine disturbances are frequent even years after TBI or SAH, in a cohort of patients who are still on medical treatment.