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Disorders of the Hypothalamic–Pituitary Axis

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Pediatric Endocrinology
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Abstract

The hypothalamic–pituitary axis is the translator of the function of higher central nervous system activity into endocrine activity through pituitary hormone secretion. In many cases, hypopituitarism is the term used to describe a defect in the secretion of pituitary hormones, but in fact, the condition may be a hypothalamic problem; eg. growth hormone deficiency is more often caused by the lack of growth hormone-releasing factor from the hypothalamus rather than a defect in the growth hormone-secreting cells of the pituitary gland. Thus, hypopituitarism is a vague term although it is in frequent use.

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Further Reading

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Correspondence to Dennis M. Styne .

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Styne, D.M. (2023). Disorders of the Hypothalamic–Pituitary Axis. In: Pediatric Endocrinology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09512-2_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09512-2_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-09511-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-09512-2

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