Endocrine Abstracts

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are used to treat inflammatory diseases because they downregulate expression of numerous inflammatory mediators. This is at least partly achieved through functional interference of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) with transcription factors such as NF-κB (transrepression). On the other hand, activation of transcription by GR is responsible for some of the side effects of GCs. Efforts to improve the safety profile of GCs are focused on the identificat...

Introduction: Ectopic Cushing syndrome caused by a neuroendocrine tumor is uncommon and it’s diagnosis is often delayed. Optic neuritis is another rare disease, with some cases also associated to neuroendocrine tumors.Case-report: A 43-year-old female was referred to the endocrinology outpatient’s department due to obesity. She had a past history of bilateral optic neuritis of unknown etiology. She complained of weight gain, hair loss, acne, hi...

Introduction: Struma ovarii is a rare form of ovarian teratoma mostly composed of thyroid tissue. In about 5% of the cases, well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma may arise in struma ovarii. As this medical entity is so exceptional, there is still no consensus on diagnosis and treatment.Case Reports: A 52-year-old old woman was submitted in 2009 to total hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Histopathology r...

Introduction: The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology is the standard for interpreting fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and created a new diagnostic category (III): ‘atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance’ (AUS/FLUS). The risk of malignancy for this category has been ascribed of 5–15% but the real malignancy rate remains unclear and plays a key role to define appropriate management.Ob...

Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common endocrine disorder characterized by hypercalcemia due to an unregulated overproduction of parathyroid hormone (PTH). PHPT is most commonly caused by a single adenoma of the parathyroid gland, usually located just behind the thyroid gland. However, in rare cases, they can have an ectopic location, including intrathyroid adenomas. In some cases, the measurement of intact PTH in the wash out fluid obtained by US-Fine Ne...

IntroductionRadioiodine whole-body scintigraphy plays an important role in the follow-up of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC), as it is highly accurate in detecting thyroid residues and recurrent disease. Unusual 131-iodine uptake outside the thyroid bed and areas of physiological uptake is strongly suggestive of distant metastasis. However, uncommon uptake may occur and lead to diagnostic errors.Case report<...

Introduction: Pancreas transplantation is an established treatment for selected patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and severe chronic kidney disease (CKD), reducing mortality and morbidity.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the cases of pancreas transplantation performed at our centre from 1-January-2011 to 30-June-2016.Results: In this period, 53 transplants were performed: 48 simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplants ...

Introduction: Thyroglobulin (Tg) measurement in needle washouts from fine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNA-Tg) increases the sensitivity of lymph node (LN) metastasis diagnosis in differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). However, the cutoff value for FNA-Tg has not been clearly established and there are large differences between clinical studies, which hinders its interpretation. Our study aimed to investigate the optimal cutoff value of FNA-Tg and evaluate its utility in the diagn...

Introduction: Although recognized as a risk factor in most staging systems, including the UICC TNM classification, the significance of microscopic extrathyroid extension (ETE) in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) remains controversial. Despite this fact, its diagnosis by a pathologist following surgery for tumours ≤ 4 cm without metastases means an upstaging to pT3 and stage III in patients over 45 years, implying a poorer survival. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact...

Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT) is a very common condition, and its coexistence with papillary thyroid carcinoma has often been reported. Analytical and echographic challenges must be kept in mind in the follow-up of patients with both these disorders.Case report:: We present the case of a woman with a history of multinodular goitre who underwent left thyroidectomy and isthmectomy at the age of 43, with the histopathological finding of...