Diabetic Complications in a Patient with Coexisting Anterior Hypopituitarism

We present a patient who developed insulin-requiring diabetes several years after the onset of symptoms of anterior hypopituitarism. It is likely that the hypopituitarism protected him against the development of diabetic retinopathy and glomerular basement membrane thickening but not against neuropathy and atheroma. The significance of this in relation to the growth-hormone-microangiopathy hypothesis is discussed.