eTable 2. Prevalence of pituitary insufficiency [?] in an incidental finding of empty sella.
| Reference |
Partial or complete ES (number) |
Women (n, %) |
BMI (kg/m2) |
Somatotropic insufficiency n (%) |
Somatotropic insufficiency confirmed by |
Corticotropic insufficiency n (%) |
Corticotropic insufficiency confirmed by |
Thyrotropic insufficiency n (%) |
Thyrotropic insufficiency confirmed by |
Gonadotropic insufficiency n (%) |
Gonadotropic insufficiency confirmed by |
Hyperprolactinemia n (%) |
Diabetes insipidus (n, %) |
Prevalence of pituitary insufficiency |
| Cannavo 2002 (23) |
Partial (21) | 16 (76%) |
29.3 ± 6.9 | 5 (24%) |
Pyridostigmine + GHRH test |
2 (9%) |
CRH test | 1 (<5%) |
TRH test | 4 (19%) |
LHRH test | 4 (19%) |
– | 23 (53%) |
| Complete (22) | 17 (77%) |
10 (45%) |
3 (14%) |
1 (<5%) |
7 (32%) |
1 (4%) |
||||||||
| Colao 2013 (24) |
Complete (94) | 55 (58.5%) |
28.8 ± 5.2 | 56 (87.5%) |
GHRH- arginine |
24 (37.5%) |
ACTH test | 35 (54.6%) |
TSH+fT4 + fT3 |
32 (50%) |
LH, FSH, testosterone/ amenorrhea |
– | 0 | 64 (68%) |
| Lupi 2011 (22) |
Partial (59), Complete (26) | 67 (79%) |
29 ± 1 | – | GHRH- arginine |
– | ACTH test | – | TRH test | – | LH, FSH, testosterone/ estradiol |
8 (9%) |
4 (5%) |
42 (49%) |
| Zuhur 2014 (21) |
Partial (47) | 38 (81%) |
29.5 ± 5.6 | 4 (8.5%) |
ITT | 2 (4.3%) |
ITT | 2 (4.3%) |
TSH, fT3,fT4, TRH test |
5 (10.,6%) |
LH, FSH, testosterone/estradiol, GnRH test |
7 (15%) |
0 | 7 (14.9%) |
| Complete (34) | 32 (94%) |
28.9 ± 6.7 | 20 (58.8%) |
5 (14.7%) |
16 (47.1%) |
19 (55.9%) |
6 (17.6%) |
23 (67.4%) |
ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone; BMI, body mass index; CRH, corticotropin releasing hormone; ES, empty sella; FSH, follicle stimulating hormone; fT3, triiodothyronine; fT4, Tetraiodothyronine; GHRH, growth hormone releasing hormone;
GnRH, gonadotropin releasing hormone; ITT, insulin tolerance test; LH, luteinizing hormone; LHRH, luteinizing hormone releasing hormone; TRH, thyrotropin releasing hormone; TSH, thyroid stimulating hormone