[Pathomorphology of adenohypophysis in cases of massive obstetric hemorrhages (morphometric and immunohistochemical studies)].

There have been performed morphometric and immunohistochemical examinations of adenohypophysis of 15 females who died of massive post-partum hemorrhages. The revealed changes in the form of hypertrophy of the basophilic cells are the initial stages of Sheehan's syndrome developing as a result of long-term progression of hypopituitarism. Massive obstetric bleeding causes severe complications-posthemorrhagic shock, the pathogenetic mechanism of which includes necrosis of the cells in the anterior part of the hypophysis. Cause-effect relations were shown for the amount of the post-partum blood loss and the revealed pathomorphologic changes in the hypophysis. Hyperproduction of ACTH by the basophilic cells of the adenohypophysis revealed by immunohistochemical analysis is a compensatory mechanism under the conditions of acute adrenal insufficiency inherent in any shock including posthemorrhagic.