Langerhans cell histiocytosis

PubMed, the Internet portal of biomedical and life sciences literature, indexed an interesting article, entitled ”Spontaneous gonadotrophin deficiency recovery in an adult patient with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH)” (Pituitary. 2005 Dec 23). Authors are Makras P, Papadogias D, Kontogeorgos G et al., from the Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, “G. Genimmatas” General Hospital, Athens, Greece. Langerhans cell histocytosis (LCH) is a rare disease which exhibits a particular predilection for pituitary involvement leading to diabetes insipidus (DI) and other anterior pituitary hormonal deficiencies. The authors report a 35 year old woman with a 10 year history of multisystemic LCH. Following several courses of glucocorticoid administration, that were not associated with any substantial improvement, the patient was started on estrogen replacement therapy and cabergoline. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of the pituitary showed an almost normal infundibulum. Endocrine investigation revealed normal gonadotrophin axis and prolactin levels This case demonstrates for the first time that LCH induced pituitary deficiencies can run a variable clinical course and even spontaneously recover. To access the abstract of the article, click here.