Antepartum pituitary necrosis in diabetes mellitus.

Pituitary infarction occurred during pregnancy in two insulin-dependent diabetic patients aged 32 and 33 years. The diagnosis was delayed in each case before being confirmed biochemically and radiologically. A decreasing insulin requirement and recurrent hypoglycaemia made it possible to determine the exact time that pituitary infarction occurred during pregnancy. The clinical features of these cases should alert physicians to the possibility of pituitary infarction in diabetic pregnancy and minimize the delay in diagnosis.