Endocrine Abstracts

The morphology and function of pituitary gland are significantly altered in pregnancy. Complex changes can be seen at the level of pituitary and target hormones, binding globulins and the effect of placental hormones are also should be taken into consideration; this makes the diagnosis of pituitary dysfunction more complicated than in the non-pregnant stage. The incidence of pituitary adenomas in child-bearing age is 0.93/100 000. All pituitary tumors carry an increased risk f...

The occurrence of a pheochromocytoma (Pheo) or a paraganglioma (PGL) during pregnancy is extremely rare with a frequency of 0.002% of all pregnancies.Because of the rarity of this association and the extremely variable clinical picture of Pheo/PGL, the diagnosis constitutes a real challenge for the clinicians. In fact, the differential diagnosis between Pheo/PGL and the more frequent gestational hypertension or (pre)eclampsia is very difficult. Paroxysma...

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), with an autosomal recessive inheritance, is characterized by impaired or absent activity of one of the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of cortisol. In about 95%, CAH is due to mutations in the 21-hydroxylase gen (CYP21) and the lack of 21-hydroxylase results in a deficiency of cortisol, often also aldosterone and excess of androgens. The prenatal exposure of androgens virilise the female foetus in varying degrees depending on the lev...