Experimental studies indicate that most of the so-called pituitary syndromes are not due to disturbances in the pituitary body, but are the result of lesions in the centers at the base of the brain.1 Roussy 2 maintains that the only proved function of the hypophysis is an influence on growth, due to the anterior lobe. Hyperfunction of this portion of the gland leads to acromegaly and gigantism, while hypofunction produces dwarfism. The number of careful pathologic studies of the changes in the hypophysis produced by internal hydrocephalus is extremely small. The clinical picture most commonly produced is dystrophia adiposogenitalis. Anatomically, two types of hydrocephalus are found: primary hydrochephalus, the etiology of which is obscure, and secondary hydrocephalus, usually due to brain tumor.
In 1909, Marinesco and Goldstein3 reported two cases of dystrophia adiposogenitalis which showed internal hydrocephalus at necropsy. One was secondary to a tumor of the cerebellum