Endocrine Abstracts

Aims: Prior to 2007, there was no agreed guideline at our hospital for the management of adrenal incidentalomas and referrals to our endocrine service were rare. Following evidence-based guidelines, we have developed a local protocol for the assessment of adrenal incidentalomas. We now report clinical outcomes of adrenal incidentaloma patients referred to our endocrine service since its implementation.Methods: Using a retrospective analysis we collected ...

Screening of thyroid disorders in pregnancy has been a matter of controversy. Recent recommendations favour targeted high-risk case finding though this approach may miss a significant number of those affected (Vaidya et al. JCEM 2007).Among 398 non-selected women in the 10th week of pregnancy, thyrotropin (IRMA) >3.5 mIU/l was found in 10.3%, free thyroxine (RIA) <10 pmol/l in 2% and thyroperoxidase antibodies (RIA) >50 IU/ml in...

Background: The prevalence of incidentally discovered adrenal masses has increased during last decades, due to longer life expectancy and to the extended use of new imaging techniques like high definition C/T and MRI. Diagnostic approach and possible therapeutic management are considered nowadays fascinating challenges for clinical practice, not only for the probability of hormonal hypersecretion but also for the risc of malignancy.Methods: We investigat...

Introduction: Adrenal incidentalomas (AIs) constitute an emerging clinical entity due to the increased use of abdominal imaging for diagnostic purposes.Objective: To investigate the morphological and hormonal alterations of AIs in a cohort of patients, who were followed-up in a single centre.Methods: Sixty-four patients (22 males and 42 females; mean age 61.6±1.2 years), with AIs and follow-up of 3.1±0.4 years (range 0&#1...

Background: The diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism, a clinical situation characterised by reduced production of parathyroid hormone despite the low calcium level, depends on patient’s anamnesis, clinical aspect and the biochemical parameters.Thalassaemia, an inherited autosomal recessive blood disease, caused by the reduced capacity of erythroblasts to synthesize one of the chains that build up hemoglobine. The combination of transfusion and chelation ...

Introduction: The decline of renal function is closely associated to increased parathyroid hormone secretion, resulting to secondary hyperparathyroidism because of: 1) hypocalcemia; 2) hyperphosphatemia; 3) reduced activity of calcitriol; 4) skeletal resistance to the calcemic action of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 5) reduced secretion of the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) in the parathyroid glands.The retention of phosphorus is considered to take an i...

Objective: Numerous studies have reported an increased risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among women who are overweight or obese compared with lean or normal-weight women. Obesity contributes to multiple health problems during pregnancy and predisposes a woman to develop GDM. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of >30. Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25.0–29.9 and normal weight is defined as a BMI 20–24.9. The aim of the present study was to...

Background-aim: Normal thyroid function during pregnancy is critical for fetal development. Deficient maternal thyroid hormone levels are associated with impaired neuropsychological development in childhood, premature birth, preeclampsia and fetal mortality. Conversely, excessive maternal thyroid levels have been linked to fetal loss, disturbed fetal growth, preeclampsia and preterm delivery. Recent consensus guidelines do not advocate universal thyroid function screening duri...

Background: Increased levels of cortisol are associated with worse prognosis in heart failure (HF). The final step in cortisol production is catalysed by 11β-hydroxylase encoded by CYP11B1, which is highly homologous with CYP11B2. A common polymorphism in the aldosterone synthase gene (CYP11B2 −344T) is associated with a raised ratio of 11-deoxycortisol/ cortisol (S/F). We examined the relationship between −344C/T polymorphism and corticos...

Context: Evidence suggests that gabapentin, a γ-aminobutyric acid analogue, is effective in the treatment of hot flushes in women with natural or tamoxifen-induced menopause.Objective and design: To investigate the efficacy and tolerability of gabapentin for the treatment of menopausal hot flushes, a systematic review of all pertinent trials and a meta-analysis of those that were randomized placebo-controlled (RCT) were performed.<p class="abste...