抄録
We describe a 3-year-old Japanese boy with growth retardation and on empty sella turcica. He was born uneventfully by vertex delivery, birth weight 2, 890 g, length 50 cm. At the age of 3 11/12, his height was 86.7 cm (-3.3 standard deviation (SD)) and the carpal bone age was moderately delayed. Peak values of serum growth hormone and the other pituitary hormone levels by conventional stimulation tests were all within the normal range. The serum insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) was 29.9 ng/mL. The mean value of urinary growth hormone (GH) was 42 pg/mg Cr. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an extremely thin and downward compressed anterior pituitary lobe with a normal pituitary stalk and posterior lobe. The skull roentgenogram showed a sella turcica of normal size. The etiology of the empty sella in the patient remained obscure. The shape of the pituitary gland in the patient is different from that due to intrinsic embryological defect in the pituitary development, indicating that an extrinsic factor might have caused the empty sella. Primary empty sella syndrome (ESS) as seen in this patient due to extrinsic factors is an important category in idiopathic GH deficiency other than perinatal injury. Careful follow up in his case is necessary to elucidate the relationship between pituitary function and empty sella
