Acquired growth hormone deficiency due to pituitary stalk transection after head trauma in childhood.

Two patients are reported with growth hormone deficiency due to head trauma in childhood. Although their injuries were outwardly only slight and there was no loss of consciousness and no subsequent neurological deficits, they exhibited gradual growth retardation from the time of the trauma. Provocative endocrinological tests showed growth hormone deficiency and MRI showed transection of the pituitary stalk. These findings suggest that ordinary head trauma, as well as perinatal insult and congenital abnormalities, could be a cause of growth hormone deficiency.