Panhypopituitarism associated with diabetes insipidus in a girl with a suprasellar arachnoid cyst.

We report on a female patient with a large suprasellar arachnoid cyst (3.5 x 2.5 cm) combined with right optic nerve hypoplasia. She developed growth hormone deficiency and hypothyroidism at the age of 8.5 years, adrenal insufficiency at the age of 11 years, diabetes insipidus and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism at the age of 15 years. When last seen at the age of 19 years she was extremely obese (+5.9 BMI SDS). The endocrine picture suggests that arachnoid cysts might be involved in far more complex hypothalamic-pituitary disturbances than previously thought.