Clinical characteristics and effects of GH replacement therapy in adults with childhood-onset craniopharyngioma compared with those in adults with other causes of childhood-onset hypothalamic–pituitary dysfunction

ObjectiveAdults with childhood-onset (CO) craniopharyngioma (COCP) have poor quality of life (QoL) and clinical outcomes, but few studies have compared these patients with adults with other causes of CO hypothalamic–pituitary dysfunction. In this study, we compared baseline clinical characteristics and patient-reported outcomes before starting GH replacement therapy in adults with GH deficiency (GHD) due to COCP with those of adults either with CO idiopathic/congenital hypopituitarism (COH) or with CO extrasellar (COE) tumours, and evaluated the 1- and 5-year effects of GH replacement therapy.Subjects and methodsRetrospective analysis of the data recorded in KIMS (Pfizer International Metabolic Database) was carried out. Patients with COCP, COH and COE tumours were evaluated at baseline, and after 1 and 5 years of therapy.ResultsCompared with COH and COE patients, more COCP patients underwent surgery, had greater abnormalities of body composition and higher prevalence of pituitary hormone deficits (all P