THU177 Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Abnormalities And Effect On Growth Response In Children With Growth Hormone Deficiency

Disclosure: J. Choe: None. J. Lee: None. J. Kim: None. Purpose: There have been several studies on the association between structural abnormalities of the pituitary gland and its function. However, no studies have yet been conducted on children with idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in Korea. We investigated clinical and laboratory findings of Korean children of idiopathic GHD by the presence or absence of pathologies in the pituitary gland. Material/Methods: A total of 479 patients were included from the LG growth study database. Participants had idiopathic GHD with available pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and were treated with GH for at least 1 year between Feb, 2001 and Feb, 2020. Clinical characteristics were retrieved from the LG growth study database. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to pituitary MRI findings: (1) pathological findings in the pituitary gland; (2) pathological findings outside the pituitary gland; (3) without pathological findings with MRI. Results: Of the 479 patients, 297 (62.0%) were male and 198 (83.5%) were prepubertal. Their mean age was 7.56±2.95 years (2-16 years) and mean age of GH treatment was 7.56±2.96 years. Pituitary MR images of 354 (73.9%) patients were normal. Of the patients with detected pathologies (26.1%), 77 (61.6%) had pituitary hypoplasia, 15 (12.0%) had Rathke’s cleft cyst, 6 (0.05%) had partial empty sella, 6 (0.05%) had an arachnoid cyst, 3 (0.02%) had ectopic neurohypophysis, and 3 (0.02%) had a pineal cyst. There was no statistically significant difference in the height velocity after one year of GH treatment between groups with or without pituitary pathology (height SDS 0.71±0.34 with pituitary pathology and 0.66±0.35 with pituitary pathology; p=0.09). Conclusions: Among Korean children with GHD, approximately one-quarter of patients had abnormal pituitary MRI findings. There were no significant differences in predicting GH treatment response regardless of pituitary MRI abnormalities. Further long-term studies are needed. Presentation: Thursday, June 15, 2023