ABSTRACT
It has been suspected for almost a century that traumatic brain injury (TBI) can produce pituitary dysfunction, but only during the past decade have we completed prospective studies that document that hypothalamic-pituitary axis damage occurs after TBI. Previously, there were only case reports associating pituitary dysfunction with brain injury. In 2000, Benvenga et al.,1 reviewed these case reports, raising the possibility of an association between TBI and pituitary dysfunction. They further noted that endocrine dysfunction can occur more than 10 years after the initial injury, and that the injury may not have been substantial enough to require hospitalization, or even be remembered by the patient. Similarly, it is only recently that a clear association has emerged between post-TBI neuroendocrine dysfunction and neurobehavioral and quality of life impairments.
