EFFECTS OF HYPOPHYSIAL STALK RESECTION ON THE HYPOPHYSIS AND HYPOTHALAMUS OF MAN

IT HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED that severing the hypophysial stalk in monkeys, without injury to the median eminence of the tuber cinereum, causes no evident modification in the water intake or urine output (i, 2, 3). But if the resection is so high that only half or less of the median eminence is left intact, severe diabetes insipidus invariably follows, as is also the case when the supraopticc hypophysial nerve tract is cut bilaterally in the hypothalamus (4). Since there are species differences, it is not only desirablebut in many cases necessary to check animal experiments by comparable clinical cases before application can be made to man, although there are indications that about the same results should be expected in human beings in this instance (5, 6). The present case is also of special interest because elevated blood pressure in certain cases has been regarded by some as an expression of hyperactivity of the hypophysis.