Acute Sheehan Syndrome Presenting as Panhypopituitarism and Reversible Cardiac Dysfunction in a Patient With Sickle Cell Disease: A Case Report.
- 1Internal Medicine, Mouwasat Hospital, Dammam, SAU.
- 2Internal Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Busaiteen, BHR.
- 3Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Qatif Central Hospital, Qatif, SAU.
Abstract
Sheehan syndrome is an uncommon cause of hypopituitarism resulting from ischemic pituitary necrosis following severe postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and hypotension. Its presentation can be delayed and non-specific, and it is rarely reported in the context of mild PPH with severe hemolysis. Here, we describe a 31-year-old woman with underlying sickle cell disease (SCD) who developed panhypopituitarism and reversible cardiac dysfunction after an 11-week period of progressive symptoms following spontaneous vaginal delivery complicated by an estimated blood loss of 700 mL and severe hemolysis. Pituitary hormonal replacement therapy, together with heart failure treatment, resulted in marked clinical and biochemical improvement, with normalization of metabolic abnormalities and recovery of cardiac function. This case suggests a possible association between Sheehan syndrome and postpartum blood loss of 700 mL accompanied by severe hemolysis, though this remains hypothetical based on a single case.
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BibTeX
@article{abdulrahman2026acute,
title = {{Acute Sheehan Syndrome Presenting as Panhypopituitarism and Reversible Cardiac Dysfunction in a Patient With Sickle Cell Disease: A Case Report.}},
author = {Rawan Abdulrahman and Alya Alhajjaj},
journal = {Cureus},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.7759/cureus.117047},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953511},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Acute Sheehan Syndrome Presenting as Panhypopituitarism and Reversible Cardiac Dysfunction in a Patient With Sickle Cell Disease: A Case Report.
AU - Rawan Abdulrahman
AU - Alya Alhajjaj
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
JO - Cureus
DO - 10.7759/cureus.117047
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953511
AB - Sheehan syndrome is an uncommon cause of hypopituitarism resulting from ischemic pituitary necrosis following severe postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and hypotension. Its presentation can be delayed and non-specific, and it is rarely reported in the context of mild PPH with severe hemolysis. Here, we describe a 31-year-old woman with underlying sickle cell disease (SCD) who developed panhypopituitarism and reversible cardiac dysfunction after an 11-week period of progressive symptoms following spontaneous vaginal delivery complicated by an estimated blood loss of 700 mL and severe hemolysis. Pituitary hormonal replacement therapy, together with heart failure treatment, resulted in marked clinical and biochemical improvement, with normalization of metabolic abnormalities and recovery of cardiac function. This case suggests a possible association between Sheehan syndrome and postpartum blood loss of 700 mL accompanied by severe hemolysis, though this remains hypothetical based on a single case.
SN - 2168-8184
ER -