Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Iron overload disorders (IOD) are associated with a higher occurrence of unbalanced calcium (Ca)-phosphorous (P) metabolism, including hypoparathyroidism (HPT). However, data about prevalence and presentation of HPT in this setting are scanty. A Ca/P ratio <2.32 has been proposed to detect HPT in the general population.Aim: To characterize Ca-P homeostasis, particularly the prevalence of HPT, in a cohort of adult patients with IOD compare...

Objective: Highly Active Antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been associated with several endocrine abnormalities. Data concerning thyroid dysfunction in HIV are still controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunctions and their association with HAART and HIV-infection in a large cohort of HIV-infected patients.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out involving HIV-infected patients whose t...

Background: Adult growth hormone (GH) deficiency (AGHD) is related with alterations in body composition, increased abdominal and visceral adiposity, adverse change in lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, and reduction of bone mineral density (BMD).Aim: To compare baseline outcomes concerning body composition and biochemical/hormonal data among adult patients with AGHD referring to a single endocrinological center and grouped according to their history of r...

Background: HIV-infection is associated to an increased prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED). In HIV-infected men ED seems to be less related to serum Testosterone (T), depending from other factors.Aim: To investigate the role of different components (organic, relational, psychological) of erectile function by using validate questionnaires in HIV-infected men with normal serum T.Methodology: Prospective, cross-sectional, observa...

Background and aim of the study: Several ultrasound (US) classifications for estimating thyroid nodules risk have been proposed. Since most of them are hardly applicable in clinical practice, we created a local tool, named Modena classification (MC), considering US characteristics and clinician subjective impression. The aim is to verify the diagnostic accuracy of MC and to compare it to US classifications of American Thyroid Association(ATA) (1) and British Thyroid Associatio...

Background: PHPT is often overlooked/underdiagnosed. Several strategies (biochemical markers alone or combined in complex algorithms) have been investigated to easily diagnose/screen PHPT, but PHPT diagnosis remains challenging at present, especially in asymptomatic patients. As serum calcium (Ca) and phosphorous (P) are inversely related in PHPT, the Ca/P ratio could be a good candidate tool for PHPT diagnosis. Surprisingly, no literature data on Ca/P ratio are available, des...

Introduction: β-thalassemia (bT) is associated to several endocrine abnormalities mainly due to iron overload. With the increase in bT-patients life expectancy, due to progresses in iron chelation therapy, more patients enter into adulthood than in the past and the prevalence of endocrine diseases is being reconsidered. The aim of the study is to investigate the prevalence of primary hypoparathyroidism (pHPT) in adult bT-patients and to characterize the relative clinical ...

Introduction: Growth Hormone deficiency (GHD) is frequent in patients with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), undergoing highly active antiretroviral therapy. GHD seems to depend on HIV-related lipodystrophy and to be less frequent in women.Aim of the study: To investigate the association of gender, body composition and GH/IGF1 axis, and to clarify whether GHD in HIV-infected patients is functional or a clinical entity.Methods...

Introduction: Thyroid function is commonly impaired in β-thalassemic patients with an estimated prevalence of hypothyroidism of 9–11%. According to literature, iron overload is the main cause of tissue damage involving both thyroid and pituitary gland, thus leading to primary or secondary hypothyroidism respectively. However, thyroid morphology has been rarely investigated in adults. The aim of this study is to evaluate thyroid volume (TV) and thyroid morphology in &...

Background: Patients with adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) have impaired health-related quality of life (QoL). While the effects of reduced muscle mass and vitality-loss on QoL have been well characterized in AGHD, the impact of AGHD on sexual function, a recognized factor influencing well-being, has never been deepened.Aim: To investigate the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in AGHD patients referring to a single endocrinological center and groupe...