Endocrine Abstracts

Case history: A 57 year old man is referred due to repeated admissions with confusion, malaise, hypotension and hyponatraemia. He has a background of metastatic melanoma (brain, liver, lung) for which he had received surgery, whole brain radiotherapy and combined immunotherapy (Ipilimumab and Nivolumab). At the time of referral he was on a maintenance regimen of Nivolumab, the dose of which had been increased just prior to the aforementioned admissions. There was no past medic...

Fasting produces a rapid reduction of the activity of the central arm of the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis, with a drop in biosynthesis of thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) in periventricular and medial parvocellular neurons of the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), and decreased TRH release into the pituitary portal capillaries. These events contribute to fasting-induced suppression of serum thyroid hormone levels, an adaptive mechanism to conserve energy....

The activity of hypothalamus–pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis is essential for energy homeostasis. TRH expression in the PVN is rapidy stimulated by energy demanding situations as cold exposure or locomotion, but blunted by stress-induced increased corticosterone serum levels. In primary cultures of rat hypothalamic cells (RHC), PKA activators as forskolin (Fsk) increase TRH mRNA levels, effect reverted by coincubation with dexamethasone. Fsk-dex coincubation also impede...

Introduction: Fahr’s syndrome and primary hypoparathyroidism are two rare diseases. Fahr’s syndrome is characterized by abnormal calcified deposits in basal ganglia and cerebral cortex and by the classic association with hypoparathyroidism. We report two cases of Fahr syndrome revealing an unknown primary hypoparathyroidism.Observation 1: A 36 year-old man, with a history of schizophrenia and generalized tonic-clonic seizures since two years. H...

Introduction: Fahr’s syndrome (SF) is a rare anatomo-clinical entity, defined by non-arteriosclerotic striato-pallido-serrated calcifications localized in basal ganglia. It may be idiopathic or secondary to many etiologies dominated by phosphocalcic metabolic abnormalities, the main cause being primary or postoperative hypoparathyroidism.Materials: This is a retrospective, descriptive study involving 11 patients with FAHR syndrome hospitalized at th...

Introduction: Therapeutic education (TE) on injection techniques and zooning is a key step for any insulin-treated patient. Our study’s objective was to evaluate the role of ET and the number of sessions required to prevent lipodystrophies (LD).Materials and methods: We conducted a prospective study including any diabetic insulin-treated patient for more than 6 months, followed in our unit between February 2015 and June 2017. Patients responded to a...

Introduction: A good injection technique is crucial to ensure that insulin is properly administered into the subcutaneous tissue and then released at the right time, to avoid some common complications such as lipodystrophies (LD). The objective of our study is to evaluate injection techniques in Moroccan diabetic patients.Materials and methods: We conducted a prospective study including any diabetic insulin-treated patient for more than 6 months, followe...

Introduction: Changing needles and syringes when injecting insulin is often included in recommendations on injection techniques and in education sessions. The objective of our study was to evaluate the rate of insulin needle reuse and its consequences.Materials and methods: We conducted a prospective study including any diabetic insulin-treated patient for more than 6 months, followed up at the service between February 2015 and June 2017. Patients respon...

Introduction: Given their prevalence of up to 5% of the general population, A discovery of an asymptomatic adrenal mass (incidentaloma) during the investigation of an unrelated condition is relatively common. The issue of crucial importance is the histopathological differentiation between benign lesions and malignant tumours of the adrenal gland.Objective: To evaluate the secretory or non-secretory profile and the benign and malignant nature of incidenta...

Introduction: Adrenal incidentalomas are frequent, their prevalence reaches 5% of the general population, incidental diagnosis from an imaging examination motivated by an extra-adrenal sign is common. Diabetes may be present in patients with adrenal incidentaloma, it is often diabetes secondary to secretion of cathecholamines, mineralocorticoids and cortisol.Objective: To evaluate the clinical-biological profile of adrenal incidentalomas, as well as thei...