COVID-19 and hypopituitarism

Stefano Frara, Paola Loli, Agnese Allora, Chiara Santini, Luigi di Filippo, Pietro Mortini, Maria Fleseriu, Andrea Giustina

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Besides the pulmonary manifestations caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), an emerging endocrine phenotype, which can heavily impact on the severity of the syndrome, has been recently associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Patients with pituitary diseases or the pituitary gland itself may also be involved in COVID-19 clinical presentation and/or severity, causing pituitary apoplexy. Moreover, hypopituitarism is frequently burdened by several metabolic complications, including arterial hypertension, hyperglycemia, obesity and vertebral fractures, which have all been associated with poor outcomes and increased mortality in patients infected by SARS-CoV-2. This review will discuss hypopituitarism as a condition that might have a bidirectional relationship with COVID-19 due to the frequent presence of metabolic comorbidities, to the direct or indirect pituitary damage or being per se a potential risk factor for COVID-19. Finally, we will address the current recommendations for the clinical management of vaccines in patients with hypopituitarism and adrenal insufficiency.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)215-231
Number of pages17
JournalReviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2022

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Hypopituitarism
  • Pituitary surgery
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Vaccination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
  • Endocrinology

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