A CASE OF POSTPARTUM HYPOPITUITARISM ASSOCIATED WITH EMPTY SELLA - POSSIBLE RELATION TO POSTPARTUM AUTOIMMUNE HYPOPHYSITIS

A fifty-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of generalized edema, progressive symptoms of fatigue and weakness of ten years' duration. After an uneventful third delivery, 24 years before admission, she could not lactate and developed oligomenorrhea and then amenorrhea. Laboratory evaluation revealed panhypopituitarism and pituitary cell antibodies were positive. Both CT scans and MR images showed empty sella. This case is postpartum hypopituitarism without a preceding history of excessive bleeding and may be autoimmune hypophysitis.