LYMPHOID HYPOPHYSITIS IN A PATIENT WITH LYMPHOID THYROIDITIS, LYMPHOID ADRENALITIS, AND IDIOPATHIC RETROPERITONEAL FIBROSIS

  • 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 109  (3) , 230-233
Abstract
The autopsy findings in a 24-yr-old woman with a clinical picture of pituitary and adrenal insufficiency which had its onset shortly after a normal pregnancy and delivery of a normal infant, 2 yr before the mother''s death, is described. There were heavy lymphocytic infiltrations of the adenohypophysis, thyroid, and adrenals as well as diffuse retroperitoneal fibrosis with numerous perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates. Lymphoid hypophysitis probably represents the hypophyseal counterpart of other endocrine autoimmune disorders, and immune mechanisms may also play a role in the pathogenesis of the so-called idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis.