Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Premature ovarian failure (POF) is not an early menopause and intermittent ovarian function can be spontaneously observed in POF patients. We sought to characterize these patients and determine which factors were predictors of intermittent ovarian function.Patients and methods: Among 391 patients with idiopathic POF followed from 1997 in our department, 67 (17.1%) patients (Group 1) had POF fluctuating criteria: FSH <15 IU/l, resumed spont...

Premature ovarian failure (POF) encompasses a heterogeneous spectrum of conditions, with phenotypic variability among patients. The etiology of POF remains unknown in most cases. This led us to set up a French network on POF for the purpose of better characterizing POF patients and understanding the mechanisms involved in this pathology. Over the last 10 years, we have evaluated 360 women who were referred to our center with a diagnosis of POF, and performed a study of clinica...

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is one of the most common autosomal recessive diseases. Decreased production of cortisol leads to increased secretion of CRH and ACTH, resulting in overproduction of androgens and hyperplastic adrenals. 21-OH deficiency has thus been speculated to predispose for the formation of morphological adrenal abnormalities. However, studies are rare, the most relevant showing a high incidence of adrenal masses in 82%...

Classical forms of congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) are generally diagnosed in neonates (salt wasting form) or in early childhood (pure virilizing form). Here, we report the case of a 39 years old man from Sri Lanka in whom a classical CAH has been diagnosed during the exploration of infertility with azoospermia, along with extremely low gonadotropins contrasting with a normal level of testosterone. Hormonal tests revealed high serum 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels (255 ng/m...

Testicular adrenal rest tumors (TART), described in patients with classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) secondary to 21-hydroxylase deficiency, are responsible for Leydig cell failure and impaired spermatogenesis. These tumors, often unresponsive to intensified glucocorticoid therapy and surgical resection, may lead to infertility or even sterility. Here, we studied the effects of long term treatment with mitotane (Lysodren), a specific adrenolytic agent, on TART in 4 C...

Introduction: There are contradictory results concerning bone mineral density status in adult patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. To resolve this issue, we hypothesized that there could be a correlation between BMD and a total cumulative glucocorticoid dose from the diagnosis in early infancy to adulthood. We then conducted a retrospective in a referral centers for CAH. Thirty-eight adult patients (28 women, 10 men, aged 16–39 years) suffering from CAH and treat...