The risk of osteopenia in premenopausal women with various sellar tumors.

OBJECTIVE: Patients with prolactinoma seem to be at high risk for osteopenia. However, whether patients with various pathological sellar tumors have risk for osteopenia remains unclear. The aim of the present study is to assess the bone mass alteration in patients with various sellar tumors and further to investigate the risk factors of bone mass alteration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 65 premenopausal female patients with diverse sellar tumors and 325 normal controls were enrolled in this study. Bone mineral density (BMD) of lumbar spine and comprehensive endocrinological evaluations were undergone. RESULTS: Compared to the matched controls, BMD of patients with prolactinoma or craniopharyngioma significantly decreased. Patients with sellar meningioma and nonfunctioning adenoma are with a decreasing tendency and patients with growth hormone-secreting adenoma are with an increasing tendency compared to controls. Univariate and multivariate regression analysis indicated that the bone loss in prolactinomas was significantly correlated to disease duration and hypogonadism. CONCLUSION: In the premenopausal women, patients with prolactinoma or craniopharyngioma are often accompanied with osteopenia or osteoporosis, and disease duration and hypogonadism are the risk factors of bone loss in prolactinoma. Continuous surveillance of BMD is recommended in patients with meningioma or nonfunctioning adenoma.