Prednisolone-responsive Postpartum IgG4-related Hypophysitis

Pregnancy-related hypophysitis revisited

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to assess the distinguishing features of pregnancy-related hypophysitis (PR-Hy) compared to non-pregnancy autoimmune hypophysitis and to evaluate the changing therapeutic approaches and outcomes in PR-Hy over time.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis of all published cases with PR-Hy and 6 own cases.

METHODS

A PubMed search was performed and abstracts screened for publications with information on cases with PR-Hy from which full-text review was performed. Clinical features, diagnostic findings, and outcome in relation to treatment modalities in PR-Hy were assessed.

RESULTS

One hundred and forty-eight cases with PR-Hy were identified. PR-Hy was significantly delimited from non-PR-Hy by the frequent occurrence of the chiasmal syndrome (50% vs 13%, P < .0001), higher rate of intrasellar origin (94% vs 74%, P = .0005), lower rate of pituitary stalk involvement (39% vs 86%, P < .0001), and low rate of diabetes insipidus (12% vs 54%, P < .0001). The role of surgery in PR-Hy decreased over time while noninvasive treatment modalities increased. The recurrence rate after high-dose glucocorticoid therapy (33%) was high and exceeded that of surgery (2%) and conservative management (2%). In contrast to initial reports on PR-Hy, recent literature regarding outcome of mother's and child's health was positive. The frequency of spontaneous preterm delivery was not increased. Recurrent PR-Hy in a subsequent pregnancy was reported in only two females.

CONCLUSION

PR-Hy has distinct features that delineate the disorder from non-PR-Hy. With increasing experience in diagnosis, availability of adequate replacement therapy, and improved treatment modalities, PR-Hy has lost its threat and the outcome is encouraging.

A Case of Immunoglobulin G4-Related Ophthalmic Disease With Unilateral Visual Field Impairment

A 76-year-old man receiving maintenance therapy with oral steroids for immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4)-related disease presented to our hospital with the chief complaint of visual disturbance. His best corrected visual acuities of the right and left eye were 1.2 and 0.7, respectively. Humphrey visual field test revealed inferior auriculotemporal one-quarter blindness in the left eye. After detailed history-taking for IgG4-related disease, clinical diagnosis based on imaging revealed the marked pituitary/pituitary stalk enlargement with associated optic chiasm compression. Based on the history and initial evaluation findings, a diagnosis of IgG4-related ophthalmic disease was made. Intensified steroid therapy was performed, which led to symptom resolution. IgG4-related diseases are considered in the differential diagnosis when bilateral hemianopsia is observed. When unilateral visual acuity and visual field defects are present, IgG4-related diseases and other organ disorders should be considered.

Immunoglobulin G4 hypophysitis in a 63-year-old woman with no autoimmune history: a case report

Background

Immunoglobulin-G4-related hypophysitis is a rare inflammatory disease that can present as a tumefactive pituitary lesion mimicking hypophyseal neoplasms such as pituitary adenoma or craniopharyngioma. The literature on this entity is sparse, with fewer than 100 cases reported across 19 publications; a recent review found only 24 cases published from 2007 to 2018. Previous reports have described demographic differences, with immunoglobulin-G4-related hypophysitis in females tending to present in the second and third decades in association with other autoimmune disease, while males tend to present in the fifth and sixth decades of life without an autoimmune history.

Case presentation

In contrast to the reported demographic trends, here we describe a unique case of immunoglobulin-G4-related hypophysitis in a 63-year-old white female with no history of autoimmune disease who presented with a rapidly enlarging sellar and hypothalamic mass causing headaches and cranial nerve palsies, prompting biopsy for diagnosis. The patient experienced rapid response to treatment with high-dose steroids and rituximab.

Conclusion

The case contributes to the growing clinicopathologic description of immunoglobulin-G4-related hypophysitis and illustrates that this diagnosis should be a consideration even outside the conventional demographic setting.

IgG4-related hypophysitis

Hypophysitis is a rare pituitary inflammatory disorder classified in different ways. Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD), also a rare disease is a systemic fibro-inflammatory condition characterized by infiltration of tissue with IgG4-positive plasma cells; however prevalence of both of them probably is underestimated. In this paper, we present an Iranian patient with biopsy-proven IgG4-related hypophysitis and then review the clinical characteristics, laboratory, imaging, pathologic findings and therapeutic management as well as prognosis of 115 published cases of hypophysitis secondary to IgG4-related disease.

Two cases of symptomatic secondary hypophysitis due to Rathke's cleft cysts treated with glucocorticoids: long-term follow-up

Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC) is a common incidental tumor in the hypothalamic-pituitary region. Some reports have shown that the clinical symptoms and endocrine functions of symptomatic RCCs are temporarily improved by glucocorticoid administration. However, it is still unknown whether glucocorticoid treatment is effective for symptomatic RCCs according to long-term observations. In this study, we describe the long-term clinical outcomes of two cases of glucocorticoid-treated biopsy-proven secondary hypophysitis caused by RCCs. We summarize the symptoms, imaging findings, and endocrine evaluations of two symptomatic RCC patients with concomitant hypophysitis before and after prednisolone treatment. In both evaluated cases, visual impairments and altered endocrine parameters were present due to chiasm and stalk compression; these outcomes improved after shrinkage of RCCs in response to prednisolone administration, and partial recovery of anterior pituitary hormone secretion was observed. However, in both cases, the deficits in anterior pituitary hormone secretion recurred, possibly due to persistent inflammatory infiltration in the RCCs and pituitary glands. After relapse of hypophysitis, anterior hormone secretion did not fully recover. In our cases of secondary hypophysitis caused by RCCs, prednisolone administration had an early effect of cyst shrinkage, followed by partial improvements in clinical symptoms and pituitary functions. However, long-term observation showed that prednisolone treatment did not contribute to complete improvement in anterior pituitary hormone dysfunction.

The neurology of IGG4-related disease

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is emerging as a fibro-inflammatory entity affecting multiple organs, including manifold neurologic manifestations. This review discusses general characteristics of IgG4-RD neurologic disease including epidemiology, histology, clinical picture and treatment approaches.

RECENT FINDINGS

IgG4-RD is increasingly recognized as an important underlying pathophysiology in multiple disorders of neurologic interest, including orbital inflammation, infundibulo-hypophysitis, hypertrophic pachymeningitis, and even in rare cases CNS parenchymal disease and cranial vascular involvement. These were previously considered idiopathic and unrelated to any systemic disease but now known to share a common histopathology. New knowledge regarding the pathogenesis, clinical features and epidemiology of IgG4 is emerging, and new neurological manifestations continue to be described. Diagnostic progress includes CT-PET imaging, the use of flow cytometry for plasmablast quantification, and the use of reverse passive latex agglutination aiming to overcome the prozone phenomenon. Histopathologic confirmation of IgG4-RD remains the gold standard method of diagnosis but new diagnostic criteria for systemic and organ-specific disease are being proposed. Though glucorticoids remain the mainstay of therapy, relapses and incomplete recovery are frequent. Rituximab is a promising treatment in IgG4-RD that is severe, refractory or glucocorticoid dependent. Initiation of immunosuppression at an early stage of disease should be considered in order to avoid development of refractory fibrosis.

SUMMARY

The current review emphasizes the neurologic manifestations of IgG4-RD.

Histopathological findings in the landscape of IgG4-related pathology in patients with pituitary dysfunction: Review of six cases

IgG4-related hypophysitis (IgG4-RH) is increasingly being reported as an isolated entity or, less frequently, as a manifestation of a multiorgan IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD), in which typical histopathology is a cornerstone for the diagnosis. We aimed to describe the histopathological changes in the surgical specimens from patients with clinical signs of pituitary disease that fulfilled the current diagnostic criteria for IgG4-RH. Histopathological features were correlated with clinical and radiological findings. Of 19 patients with pituitary dysfunction and inflammatory changes in the surgical pituitary specimen operated on during 2011-2019, we identified five patients with typical IgG4-related pathology (lymphoplasmacytic infiltration with more than 10 IgG4-positive plasma cells per one high power microscopic field, representing at least 40% of all plasma cells and at least focal storiform fibrosis). One patient with diabetes insipidus and pachymeningitis with IgG4-related changes in a biopsy from the dura was also included. Additional histopathological changes that typically are not part of the IgG4-RH were observed: Rathke's cleft cyst in four and granulomatous changes in two patients. One patient had an elevated serum IgG4 level and systemic manifestations that could be associated with the systemic IgG4-RD. Our findings indicate that pure IgG4-RH is uncommon. All patients with pituitary dysfunction, beyond typical IgG4-related pathology, had other pathological findings that could trigger the secondary IgG4-response. Both primary pathology and secondary IgG4-related features should be reported in patients with pituitary dysfunction because their co-occurrence may cause atypical clinical and imaging features, and unexpected response to surgical and pharmacological treatment. The current criteria for the diagnosis of IgG4-RH can lead to overdiagnosis of IgG4-RH if additional pathological changes are not taken into consideration. The classification criteria of IgG4-RD proposed by the American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism could help classify patients more properly as IgG4-RH if applied to the pituitary gland.

IgG4 hypophysitis: Diagnosis and management

IgG4-related hypophysitis is a rare disease, due to a lymphoplasmocytic IgG4 positive infiltration of the pituitary. Literature data are scarce, even though the description of cases has drastically increased over the last years. The aim of this review is to better characterize the natural history, the diagnosis and the management of IgG4-related hypophysitis, based on a clinical case, an exhaustive Pubmed research, and a reappraisal of the criteria for diagnosis. We will specifically focus on the differences with other etiologies of hypophysitis, in the aim of improving the diagnostic procedures for all the physicians who could have to take care of such patients.

New causes of hypophysitis

Hypophysitis is a rare entity characterized by inflammation of the pituitary gland and its stalk that can cause hypopituitarism and/or mass effect. Etiology can be categorized as primary or secondary to systemic disease, but may also be classified according to anatomical and hispathological criteria. Newly recognized causes of hypophysits have been described, mainly secondary to immunomodulatory medications and IgG4-related disease. Diagnosis is based on clinical, laboratory and imaging data, whereas pituitary biopsy, though rarely indicated, may provide a definitive histological diagnosis. For the clinician, obtaining a broad clinical and drug history, and performing a thorough physical examination is essential. Management of hypophysitis includes hormone replacement therapy if hypopituitarism is present and control of the consequences of the inflammatory pituitary mass (e.g. compression of the optic chiasm) using high-dose glucocorticoids, whereas pituitary surgery is reserved for those unresponsive to medical therapy and/or have progressive disease. However, there remains an unmet need for controlled studies to inform clinical practice.

Disease heterogeneity in IgG4-related hypophysitis: report of two histopathologically proven cases and review of the literature

IgG4-related hypophysitis (IgG4-RH) is a rare disease, which can occur singularly or as manifestation of a systemic IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD). Less than one hundred cases have been reported in the literature, very few of which were histopathologically documented. We analyzed the clinical, radiological, and histopathological features of two cases of IgG4-RH, the former observed in a 66-year-old man in the context of an IgG4-RD, and the latter affecting a 21-year-old woman, as an isolated lesion. In addition, we performed a comprehensive review of the previously published histopathologically documented cases of IgG4-RH. Pituitary samples from both patients showed dense lymphoplasmacytic infiltration, interstitial and storiform fibrosis, and high numbers of IgG4-positive plasma cells, consistent with IgG4-RH. From the literature review, we retrieved 18 papers reporting a total of 22 cases of histopathologically documented IgG4-RH. The revision of these cases, also including the two reported herein, showed an equal distribution of IgG4-RH in the two sexes, albeit significant clinico-pathological variation was found between cases arisen in female and male patients, respectively. In detail, IgG4-RH females were affected in their second-third decade of life, with a solitary pituitary lesion, low IgG4 serum level, and frequent association with autoimmune disorders. By contrast, IgG4-RH in men was a disease of the elderly, often in the context of a systemic IgG4-RD, with high IgG4 serum levels. Our study shows that IgG4-RH, as currently defined, is a clinically heterogenous disease, with different features in the two sexes. Indeed, cases diagnosed in young women, as our case 2, mostly do not present other evidence of IgG4-RD and might be better classified as lymphocytic hypophysitis with abundant IgG4+ plasma cells. For this reason, the histopathological examination of the pituitary lesion, particularly in female patients, may still be useful for a correct differential diagnosis with other variants of primary hypophysitis.

Clinical Characteristics of 76 Patients with IgG4-Related Hypophysitis: A Systematic Literature Review

BACKGROUND

IgG4-related hypophysitis (IgG4-RH) is a rare disease, and its prevalence remains unclear. In recent years, an increasing number of cases have been reported because of the increasing recognition of this disease. We aimed to summarize case reports of IgG4-RH and outline the clinical features and outcomes.

METHODS

We performed PubMed search of articles using the search terms "hypophysitis [AND] IgG4." Consequently, only 54 English articles (76 cases) met Leporati's diagnostic criteria.

RESULTS

Of the 76 cases, the ratio of men to women was 1.5 : 1, and the age at diagnosis was 54.1 ± 17.8 years. The median IgG4 concentration was 405.0 mg/dl. Anterior hypopituitarism, isolated central diabetes insipidus, and panhypopituitarism were observed in 14 (18.4%), 12 (15.8%), and 44 (57.9%) cases, respectively. The sequence of anterior hormone deficiency was as follows: gonadotropin (68.4%), ACTH (63.2%), TSH (59.2%), GH (48.7%), and prolactin (42.1%). The median number of involved organs was 1.5, and the lung (18.4%), retroperitoneum (17.1%), kidney (15.8%), submandibular glands (14.5%), and pancreas (13.2%) were the common involved organs. Elevated IgG4 concentration and normal IgG4 level were in 42 (76.4%) and 13 (23.6%) cases, respectively. Patients with elevated serum IgG4 concentration were older (60.9 ± 14.3 vs 45.6 ± 17.4, p=0.001) and male-prone (78.6% vs 40.4%, p=0.003) and had a susceptibility of multiple organ involvement (78.6% vs 35.0%, p=0.001) compared to those with normal serum IgG4 levels. Males were older at disease onset (61.5 ± 12.6 vs 42.9 ± 18.8, p < 0.001) and had a higher IgG4 concentration (425.0 vs 152.5, p=0.029) and a greater number of involved organs (2.0 vs 0.0, p=0.001), while isolated hypophysitis was more prominent in female (63.3% vs 26.1%, p=0.001).

CONCLUSION

In this review, we found that there were different characteristics between different genders. Patients with elevated serum IgG4 level in terms of some clinical features were also different from those with normal serum IgG4 level. However, the data in this review were limited by bias and confounding. Further clinical studies with larger sample sizes are warranted.

A case series of atypical features of patients with biopsy-proven isolated IgG4-related hypophysitis and normal serum IgG4 levels

BACKGROUND

IgG4-related hypophysitis is a rare clinical entity that forms part of an emerging group of multi-organ IgG4-related fibrosclerotic systemic diseases. The rare prevalence of the disease, presenting features that overlap with other sellar pathologies, and variable imaging features can make preoperative identification challenging.

PURPOSE AND METHODS

We report three cases of isolated IgG4-related hypophysitis with atypical clinical and imaging features that mimicked those of pituitary apoplexy and other sellar lesions. Additionally, we review the literature of IgG4-related hypophysitis to provide context for individual patient data described herein.

RESULTS

All patients presented with symptoms that mimicked those of pituitary apoplexy and visual disturbance, and MRI findings suggestive of pituitary macroadenoma, Rathke's cleft cyst and craniopharyngioma. The clinical presentation warranted surgical decompression, resulting in rapid symptomatic improvement. Preoperative high-dose followed by postoperative low-dose glucocorticoid replacement therapy was administered in all cases. Histopathology showed dense infiltrate of IgG4 cells. Post-operative follow-up monitoring for 12-26 months revealed normal serum IgG4 levels with no other organ involvement, while endocrinological testing revealed persistent pituitary hormone deficiencies.

CONCLUSIONS

Our cases highlight the importance of considering IgG4-related hypophysitis in the differential diagnosis of solid and cystic sellar lesions presenting acutely with pituitary apoplexy symptoms. Existing diagnostic criteria may not be sufficiently precise to permit rapid and reliable identification, or avoidance of surgery in the acute setting. In contrast to other reports of the natural history of this condition, despite the severity of presenting features, the disease in our cases was pituitary-restricted with normal serum IgG4 levels.