Endocrine Abstracts

Pregnancy in acromegalic patients is an infrequent event, but with earlier diagnosis and advanced surgical/medical management, more affected women get pregnant.The use of Somatostatin analogues (SSA) during pregnancy seems safe, but there are few reported pregnancies under this treatment.We report two acromegalic patients treated with SSA that became pregnant.Case 1: Thirty-three year old woman diagnosed with...

Introduction: Sheehan’s syndrome is a rare cause of hypopituitarism secondary to an intra or postpartum severe bleeding. Manifestations are most often caused by deficiencies of hormones of anterior pituitary; involvement of posterior pituitary is rarely described.Case report: We report a case of a 45 years old hypertensive, multipara, premenopausal woman, who underwent fertilization by oocyte donation, that resulted in twin pregnancy. Preterm vagina...

Introdution: Pituitary apoplexy (PA) is a rare clinical syndrome caused by sudden hemorrhage or infarction of the pituitary gland. PA may be the form of presentation of a pituitary tumor or occur during follow-up of a previously diagnosed macroadenoma. A high suspicion índex is required to establish a timely diagnosis.Case report: A 54-year-old man was referred to Endocrinology department (04/2015) due to a pituitary macroadenoma. He reported sexual...

Addison’s disease (AD), also known as primary adrenal insufficiency, is caused by destruction or dysfunction of the adrenal cortex, resulting in hypocortisolism. The usual clinical features of chronic AD are non-specific and include fatigue, nausea, vomiting and hyperpigmentation. We describe the case of a 58-year-old African black male with AD presenting with recurring severe hypoglycaemia. The patient was admitted several times to the emergency department with hypoglyca...

Gitelman’s Syndrome (GS) is a rare autosomal recessive salt-losing tubulopathy of young adults, characterized by secondary hyperaldosteronism, hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, hypocalciuria and metabolic alkalosis. It is caused by mutations in SLC12A3 gene. Hypercalcemia due to hypocalciuria in these patients is extremely rare and requires further evaluation.A 25-year-old normotensive female was referred to Endocrinology clinic for evaluation o...

Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is a rare group of genetic disorders characterised by end-organ resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH). We describe the case of a 34-year-old Caucasian female with severe hypocalcaemia presenting with a first generalised seizure. Her medical history was significant for bilateral cataract. She had three healthy children, and no family history of note. On examination, she had positive Chvostek’s sign. Biochemical analysis showed serum calcium...

Introduction: Barakat syndrome is a very rare disease and an uncommon aetiology of hypocalcaemia. Also known as HDR syndrome it is an autosomal dominant disorder characterised by hypoparathyroidism, sensorineural deafness and renal disease.Clinical case: A 59-year-old Caucasian woman was admitted to our Endocrinology ward in May 2014 due to hypocalcaemia despite being medicated with oral calcium. At 35 years old a diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism was esta...

Introduction: Glucocorticoid resistance syndrome (GRS) is a rare familial or sporadic condition, caused by mutations in glucocorticoid receptor gene. It is characterised by generalised partial resistance of target tissues to cortisol action and compensatory elevation of ACTH with subsequent hypersecretion of cortisol, mineralocorticoids and androgens. Its clinical spectrum is broad and it may occur with high blood pressure (HBP) metabolic alcalosis, hypokalaemia and virilisati...

Virilizing ovarian tumors are a rare cause of hyperandrogenism; they account for 1–2% of all ovarian tumors being the Leydig cell tumor the most common one.We report the case of a 76-year old woman with type 2 diabetes that was referred for androgenic alopecia with 3 years evolution and a recent facial, peri-areolar and dorsal hirsutism. A diagnosis of hypertension was made 18 months previously, and she was on a four anti-hypertensive drug regimen. ...

Introduction: Adrenal incidentaloma are becoming very frequent. Bilateral adrenocortical adenomas are a rare cause of ACTH-independent Cushing syndrome.Clinical case: A 64-year-old hypertensive woman presented with bilateral adrenal incidentaloma detected on the evaluation as a living kidney donor candidate. She was normotensive (129/87 mmHg) on monotherapy, BMI – 24.8 kg/m2, with no recent weight gain, hirsutism, striae or mood disturban...