Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2015) 37 EP738 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.37.EP738

ECE2015 Eposter Presentations Pituitary: clinical (121 abstracts)

Obstructive sleep apnoea is common in patients who have had surgery for non-functioning pituitary adenomas; preliminary data

Martin Cuesta Hernandez 1 , Rachel Crowley 1 , Richard Costello 2 & Christopher Thompson 1


1Academic Department of Endocrinology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland; 2Academic Department of Pulmonology, Dublin, Ireland.


Introduction: Some patients complain of excessive daytime somnolence following pituitary surgery.

Aim: To investigate the presence of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) following surgery for non functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA).

Design and methods: We assessed the prevalence of OSA in 16 routinely selected patients following surgery for NFPA and 13 obese controls attending a tertiary referral centre, by means of the Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS) and polysomnography. All subjects with sleep apnoea were offered continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP).

Results: The median age in NFPA group was 60 years (IQR: 51, 67) vs 49 years (IQR: 43, 56), p=0.023. Gender: Male: 9/16 (56%) in NFPA vs 7/13(53%) in control group, P=0.89. 15/16 (93%) patients had postoperative hypopituitarism and were on appropriate hormone replacement at the time of evaluation Median ESS was 13 (IQR: 5.25, 36) in NFPA patients and 5.7 (1.75, 18.55) in controls, P=0.04. 14 (87%) NFPA patients had apnoea hypopnoea index (AHI)>5, compared to seven patients (53%) in the obese control group, P=0.043, with 10/15 (66%) with complete anterior pituitary failure. 9/10 (90%) patients with complete anterior pituitary failure were diagnosed from OSA (AHI>5) and were started on CPAP. There were no statistically significant differences in the prevalence of OSA in patients with complete anterior pituitary failure after surgery (90%) compared to those with partial anterior hypopituitarism 4/6 (66%), P=0.24. BMI did not correlate with apnoea hypopnoea index (apnoea – hypopnoea index (AHI), r=−0.17, P=0.54), which suggests that factors other than obesity might explain the prevalence of sleep apnoea after surgery in patients with NFPA.

Conclusions: OSA is common following surgery for NFPA, and is not explainable solely by associated obesity. Polysomnography should be offered to NFPA patients with somnolence or symptoms of OSA.

Article tools

My recent searches

No recent searches.