Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Insulin autoimmune syndrome (IAS) is a clinical condition characterized by the presence of autoantibodies to insulin or insulin receptors in patients not previously treated with insulin. This syndrome has been reported mainly in Asia, and it is a rare cause of hypoglycemia in Caucasians. So far there are no reports of IAS in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus never treated with insulin.Case report: The authors describe a 59-year-old Cau...

Background: Obesity is related to an increased cardiovascular risk, namely coronary heart disease risk (CHDr). Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is frequently associated with obesity and, by itself, is an important CHDr factor. Interventions that induce weight loss would be expected to attenuate CHDr in obese patients.Aims: To evaluate variation in cardiovascular risk profile one year after adjustable gastric banding (AGB), in obese patients (with and without T2D); ...

Octreotide LAR (SMS-LAR) is available in 10, 20 and 30 mg dosing. The relation-ship between SMS-LAR starting dose and GH, IGF-I and symptoms was exam-ined. The Observational Acromegaly Study on Impact of Sandostatin LAR (OASIS) collects data on GH, IGF-I, symptoms, safety and tolerability in recently diagnosed acromegalic patients. Data are collected under normal practice conditions over 12 mos. Eight hundred and sixty patients from 138 centers in 23 countries are enrolled; 35...

Childhood obesity and its later progression to Type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) are known to be associated with sub-clinical inflammation; although the underlying cause for this is unclear. However, studies suggest that bacterial endotoxin (LPS) derived from commensal bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract may contribute directly to sub-clinical inflammation. Human adipose tissue expresses toll like receptors that induce an inflammatory cascade in the presence of endotoxin. Hence,...

Anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) is expressed in the ovary, in granulosa cells (GC) of preantral and antral follicles. Mice lacking the AMH gene show an increase in the proportion of early growing follicles and a reciprocal decrease in the primordial pool, suggesting an important role in early follicle growth. Little is known about the expression of AMH in the human ovary. Recent studies have shown that the proportion of follicles entering the growing pool is increased in PCO, sim...

Introduction: Primary Hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is a calcium metabolism disease, resulting from one or more parathyroid glands hyperfunction. Ultrasonography and Technetium Sestamibi are, nowadays, the first line imaging techniques for diagnosis. Recently, a 4-dimensional computed tomography (4D-TC) protocol has emerged, presented in the last endocrine surgery guidelines. It is a dynamic imaging exam based on the parathyroid contrast uptake pattern, whose sensitivity and spec...

Introduction: Ectopic thyroid tissue is a rare embryonic developmental defect that occurs during the thyroid transition from its initial position in the floor of the primitive bowel to a pre-tracheal location. This defect has a prevalence in the general population of 0.3–1/100,000 inhabitants, increasing to 0.5–1/4,000 patients with thyroid pathology. It is more common in women and can be diagnosed at any age, with diagnosis being more common in young individuals.</p...

IntroductionThe most cost-effective, minimally invasive and accurate tool to discriminate benign from malignant thyroid nodules is a fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). However, 2%–24% of FNABs provide non-diagnostic results, which are a clinical challenge, particularly when this result is recurrent.AimTo determine the predictive factors for recurrent non-diagnostic FNAB in thyroid nodules.<p class...

IntroductionRecent published studies suggest that the anatomical location of the thyroid nodule may be associated with different risks of malignancy. However, the results are still sparce and little consensual.AimTo evaluate the frequency of nodules on different locations of the thyroid gland and to determine whether their location correlates with different malignancy risks.Methods<...

IntroductionPheochromocytomas (PHEO) and paragangliomas (PGL) are neuroendocrine tumors arising from the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla and extra-adrenal autonomic paraganglia, respectively. They are rare and generally benign neuroendocrine tumors. However, malignancy (defined as the evidence of metastases in nonchromaffin sites distant from the primary tumor) occurs in 2 to 26%. Malignant PHEO and PGL are very challenging malignancies associate...