Background: Pituitary stalk thickening (PST) is a rare abnormality in the pediatric population. Its etiology is heterogeneous. The aim of the study was to identify important clinical, radiological and endocrinological manifestations of patients with PST and follow the course of the disease. Materials and Methods: It is a study conducted in 23 patients (13 boys) with PST with/without central diabetes insipidus (CDI) diagnosed between 1990 and 2020 at Children’s Memorial Health Institute (CMHI) in Warsaw, Poland. We analyzed demographic data, clinical signs and symptoms, radiological findings, tumor markers, hormonal results, treatment protocols and outcomes. Results: The median age at the diagnosis of PST was 9.68 years (IQR: 7.21-12.33). The median time from the onset of the symptoms to the diagnosis was 2.17 years (IQR: 1.12-3.54). The most common initially reported manifestations were polydipsia, polyuria and nocturia (82.6%); most of the patients (56.5%) also presented decreased growth velocity. Hormonal evaluation at the onset of PST revealed: CDI (91.3%), growth hormone deficiency (GHD) (56.5%), hyperprolactinemia (39%), central hypothyroidism (34.8%), adrenal insufficiency (9%), precocious puberty (8.7%). The majority of the patients were diagnosed with germinoma (seventeen patients – 73.9%, one of them with teratoma and germinoma). Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) was identified in three patients (multisystem LCH in two patients, and unifocal LCH in one patient). A single case of atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, suspected low-grade glioma (LGG) and lymphocytic infundibuloneurohypophysitis (LINH). The overall survival rate during the observational period was 87.0%. Conclusions: The pituitary infundibulum presents a diagnostic imaging challenge because of its small size and protean spectrum of disease processes. Germinoma should be suspected in all children with PST, especially with CDI, even when neurological and ophthalmological symptoms are absent.

Aim. To evaluate the influence of metabolic parameters and the treatment method in children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) on the optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) results as early markers of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Material and Methods. This prospective study enrolled 175 consecutive children with T1D. OCTA was performed using AngioVue (Avanti, Optovue). Whole superficial capillary vessel density (wsVD), fovea superficial vessel density (fsVD), parafovea superficial vessel density (psVD), whole deep vessel density (wdVD), fovea deep vessel density (fdVD), parafovea deep vessel density (pdVD), foveal thickness (FT), parafoveal thickness (PFT), and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) in superficial plexus were evaluated and analyzed in relation to individual characteristics, i.e., sex, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), and metabolic factors: current and mean value of glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). Furthermore, the analysis concerned the diabetes duration, age at the T1D onset, and type of treatment—multiple daily insulin injections (MDI) or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII). Results. In the study group, we did not identify any patient with DR in fundus ophthalmoscopy. Age at the onset of diabetes correlated negatively with FAZ ( , ). The higher level of HbA1c corresponded to a decrease of wsVD ( , ). We found significantly lower fsVD ( vs. , ), wdVD ( vs. , ), and pdVD ( vs. , ) and larger FAZ area ( vs.