Growth hormone is among the most common hormones to be deficient in pituitary insult. It can occur either in isolation or combined with other hormone deficiencies. Growth hormone deficiency in adults (AGHD) can be due to causes acquired in adulthood or have a childhood-onset etiology, but the former is about three times more common. Usual causes of AGHD include mass effects due to a pituitary tumour, and/or its treatment (surgery, medical therapy, or radiotherapy), or radiotherapy to the head and neck region for non-pituitary lesions. The unusual or lesser-known causes of AGHD, are usually due to non-tumoral etiology and range from vascular and infective to inflammatory and miscellaneous causes. These not only expand the spectrum of AGHD but may also contribute to increased morbidity, adverse metabolic consequences, and mortality due to the primary condition, if unrecognised. The review features these lesser-known and rare causes of AGHD and highlights their clinical and diagnostic implications.

生长激素是垂体损伤中最常见缺乏的激素之一。它可以单独发生，也可以与其他激素缺乏症同时发生。成人生长激素缺乏症(AGHD) 可能是由于成年后获得的原因或儿童期发病的病因造成的，但前者的发生率约为其三倍。AGHD 的常见原因包括垂体肿瘤和/或其治疗（手术、药物治疗或放射治疗）引起的占位效应，或针对非垂体病变的头颈部区域的放射治疗。AGHD 的不寻常或鲜为人知的原因通常是非肿瘤病因，范围从血管和感染到炎症和其他原因。这些不仅扩大了 AGHD 的范围，而且如果未被识别，还可能导致原发性疾病导致发病率、不良代谢后果和死亡率增加。该综述重点介绍了这些鲜为人知且罕见的 AGHD 病因，并强调了它们的临床和诊断意义。