Endocrine dysfunction following traumatic brain injury: mechanisms, pathophysiology and clinical correlations.

Despite growing recognition among those who provide care for traumatic brain injury patients, endocrine dysfunction following brain injury is an often under-recognized phenomenon. From historical reports one would conclude that endocrine dysfunctions hardly ever occurs following trauma to the head. However, recent studies suggest that a significant proportion of patients suffer some degree of hypopituitarism. To date, there are no clear predicting factors identifying patients at risk for developing hormonal disturbances and thus no parameters exist for screening. Several retrospective analyses and literature reviews, and more recently, a few longitudinal studies of brain injured patients have been performed.