Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Adequate hormone replacement therapy in adrenal insufficiency is essential. Patients should have basic knowledge about their condition and what to do in situations which could trigger an adrenal crisis. Education on how and when hydrocortisone replacement therapy should be adjusted as well as instruction and practice an emergency injection are considered important measures to prevent an adrenal crisis. A standardized nurse-led group-based education programme (GEP...

Background: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare disease accounting for 1-3% of all thyroid carcinomas. Unfortunately, most patients present with metastasized disease: 70% with cervical lymph node metastasis and 5-10% with distant metastasis. Survival strongly correlates with stage of disease at diagnosis, illustrating the need for early diagnosis. Calcitonin is a well-established tumour marker for MTC, but its use in the screening phase is limited by a high rate of fal...

Introduction: Hypothalamic dysfunction (HD) during childhood can occur due to (treatment of) a suprasellar brain tumor. HD may not only result in pituitary dysfunction, but also in severe hyperphagia, decreased energy expenditure, diabetes insipidus with adipsia, disturbance of circadian rhythm, temperature dysregulation and behavioral problems. Currently there is no effective treatment for HD while HD has major impact on quality of life. To provide optimal care and to design ...

A 57 years-old patient presented with back pain, general discomfort, polydipsia, polyuria, fatigue and recent weight loss of 10 kg. Biochemical evaluation showed hypercalcemia (2.85 mmol/l; normal: 2.15–2.55) with low PTH level (14,2 ng/L; normal 14.9–56.9 ng/l) excluding primary hyperparathyroidism. The most frequent cause of hypercalcemia with non-elevated PTH levels is an underlying malignancy1. CT-thorax-abdomen showed a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor...

Introduction: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant neurocutaneous disorder characterised by the appearance of multiple, mostly benign, tumours throughout the skin and central nervous system. Furthermore, NF1 is associated with a number of (pre)malignant tumours including pheochromocytoma, glioma, invasive breast cancer and (pre)malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours (1). Approximately 1:2500 to 1:3500 individuals are affected.Medull...

Background and study aims: Increased aldosterone production in the adrenal gland plays a role in many hypertensive patients. Structural changes of the zona glomerulosa with age in normotensive patients have been described in literature but the influence of aging on aldosterone secretion and physiology is unclear. The aim of this study is to investigate changes in the ZG in order to gain insight in the origin, development and definition of aldosterone producing cell clusters (A...

Background: Adipose tissue dysfunction, such as adipocyte hypertrophy and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, develops in obese subjects and goes hand in hand with obesity-related complications, especially insulin resistance (IR) and systemic inflammation. The exact mechanisms underlying adipose tissue dysfunction and consequently the obesity-related complications are not yet fully understood.Aim: Investigate the association between systemic IR and ...

Background: Nutrition is essential in achieving maximal treatment success after bariatric surgery, and is simultaneously beneficial for avoiding long-term complications. Dietary protein could have an important role, because of its positive effects on preservation of muscle mass and induction of satiety in non-bariatric subjects. Therefore, we investigated the effects of dietary protein, assessed by amino acid composition, on satiety, hunger and gastrointestinal hormones after ...

Introduction: Immune checkpoint blockade in cancer treatment causes frequent adverse events of auto-immune etiology. Ipilimumab (anti-CTLA-4 antibody) causes a hypophysitis in up to 10% of patients. In contrast, during treatment with nivolumab and pembrolizumab (both anti-PD-1 antibodies), hypophysitis is rare (<1%).Results: In the past year, we identified 4 cases of hypophysitis in patients treated with anti-PD-1 therapy (incidence 1% out of a total...

Introduction: An aim of the ERNs is empowering patients, by education & learning about their experiences after diagnosis of a rare endocrine disease (RED), to identify gaps and improve outcome. Thus, EndoERN Work Package 4 designed a survey, to learn about patients perceptions on quality of care and existing gaps in diagnosis/management.Aim: Evaluate results of a 21 question survey answered on-line on a Likert scale by individual patients with RED or...