Sheehan's Syndrome

Sheehan’s Syndrome

The condition which occur in pregnant women during or before delivery of baby. It is occurred when women lose excess amount of blood during childbirth and hypoxemia occur after delivery. In Sheehan’s syndrome there is damage of pituitary gland due to low oxygen supply to the gland.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of Sheehan’s syndrome include:

Causes

The main cause of Sheehan’s syndrome is the excessive loss of blood during childbirth or low blood pressure after birth. Low oxygen supply to the pituitary gland damages the gland therefore gland stop functioning after birth of baby. Pituitary gland secrete many important hormones include growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, follicle stimulating hormone and adrenocorticotropic hormone etc.

Diagnosis

After taking detailed medical history and conducting physical examination your doctor might recommend the following tests:

  • Blood test to check the level of hemoglobin and pituitary hormones level
  • Imaging test of brain to rule out the other causes
  • Angiogram
  • CT (Computerized Tomography) scan
Treatment

The focus of treatment is to prevent the complications and stable the patient. Treatment options include:

  • Levothyroxine to cover the deficiency of thyroid hormone
  • Corticosteroids to reduce the inflammation
  • Estrogen to cover the deficiency of pituitary estrogen
  • Growth hormone
Scroll to Top