Endocrine Abstracts

Cushing’s syndrome is associated with life-threatening complications, as well as high rates of perioperative mortality and morbidity. Authors present clinical scenarios, in which one should consider the usage of intravenous etomidate as an accurate, safe and effective drug for hypercortisolaemia.Case 1: 23-year-old female with severe Cushing’s syndrome due to metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma was admitted to the Department of Endocrinology. S...

Background2–3% of the general population is chronically treated with glucocorticoids (GCs). Modification of the structure and/or function of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) due to its polymorphisms may result in increased (GC – S – bclI, N363S) or decreased (GC – I – A3669G, ER22/23EK) sensitivity to GCs. To date, whether such modulation of cell’s response to GCs can be associated with presence or absence of the side effect...

Background: Etomidate is mainly used in general anesthesia. In some rare cases it can also be helpful in treating life-thretening severe hypercortisolaemia (in much lower doses) in patients who are not able to take oral medications or when oral drugs are not available.Case Presentation: Fifty-seven-year-old woman with symptoms of virilization, hypokalemia and muscle weekness for 6 months was admitted to Department of Endocrinology. On admission cortisol ...

Introduction: One of the most common side effects of glucocorticoid treatment is glucose intolerance and diabetes. Although glucocorticoids cause mainly postprandial hyperglycaemia the International Diabetes Federation, American Diabetes Association and The European League Against Rheumatism recommend to screen patients chronically treated with glucocorticoids by regularly determining fasting plasma glucose. Such an approach can lead to false negative results. Since pre-diabet...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare and very aggressive tumor with poor prognosis. The aim of the study was to identify prognostic factors of recurrence-free (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with ACC.We present a retrospective analysis in 52 patients diagnosed with ACC. A number of factors both histological and clinical were analyzed. Recurrent disease was defined as a new lesion confirmed in imaging. Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate ...

Analogues of somatostatin are widely used in management of neuroendocrine tumors. The “classic” indications for this treatment are: acromegaly and NETs of midgut to diminish symptoms caused by hormonal overproduction and slow down the tumors’ growth. However we consider the use of this medication also in the other cases in which we confirm the presence of somatostatin receptors in tumor by somatostatin receptor scintigraphy.We would like t...

Introduction: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is the most common recognized endocrinopathy in women. The syndrome is often accompanied by obesity and insulin resistance.Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the differences between the selected anthropometric and biochemical parameters in a group of women with insulin resistance and without insulin resistance.Materials and methods: The study included a group of 45 women diagnosed with P...

Introduction: Early detection of carbohydrate and fat metabolism disorders in women with polycystic ovary syndrome allows the early prevention of cardiovascular diseases and type II diabetes.Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the selected metabolic indicators and anthropometric measurements in two groups of women: metabolically healthy polycystic ovary syndrome (MH-PCOS) and metabolically unhealthy PCOS (MU-PCOS).Material...

Background: Primary aldosteronism constitutes the most common form of hormonal hypertension. However, it is often mistreated and widely underdiagnosed. Despite the great progress in laboratory technics of adrenal diseases, in the field of primary aldosteronism there is still a need for novel biomarkers that would clarify the diagnosis in equivocal cases. Adropin is a newly discovered protein that may play a role in glucose metabolism and the development of cardiovascular disea...

Background: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the most frequent cause of hormonal hypertension, typically associated with hypokalaemia. Whereas hypertension with no hypokalaemia can be present in even half of cases, hypokaleamia in normotensive patients is a very rare finding. Mechanisms that act against developing hypertension despite aldosterone excess are at least a few. Some patients with previous low blood pressure increase its values because of hyperaldosteronism, thus still...