Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Surgical removal is the primary treatment option for pituitary adenomas. However, pituitary surgery is frequently incomplete because of invasion of extrasellar cerebral structures, notably, of the cavernous sinus. Our objective was to study the molecular basis of the cavernous sinus invasion by pituitary adenomas.Methods: We analyzed a tissue collection of 19 invasive pituitary adenomas with a sample from the intrasellar portion and a sample fro...

Introduction: Acromegaly is characterized by excessive secretion of GH and increased IGF-1 levels caused by benign pituitary adenoma. The ACRO-POLIS study describes symptoms and comorbidities of acromegaly at diagnosis in a large cohort of patients diagnosed between 2009 and 2014 in France.Methodology: Observational, cross-sectional, multicentre study included adult patients with acromegaly diagnosed for less than 5 years. Data were collected retrospecti...

Introduction: Acromegaly is associated with multiple comorbidities and excess mortality. However, disease burden is reduced by maintaining IGF-1 (and/or GH) levels under safe levels. First generation long-acting SMSa, administered at monthly intervals, represent the first line medical treatment. According to guidelines, its efficacy is evaluated through IGF-I measurements. However, there are no data indicating the optimal time for measuring IGF-I levels after the SMSa injectio...

Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) have important metabolic actions. GH/IGF-I excess and GH deficiency are each associated with ‘opposing’ comorbidities that often mirror one another. Cardiac and vascular comorbidity demonstrates that ‘too much’ may be as bad as ‘too little’. An association between acromegaly and increased cardiac mortality has long been claimed. This was based on epidemiological studies of patients treat...

The most frequent side effects of antithyroid drugs are skin reactions (6%), gastrointestinal effects (5%) and arthralgia (5%). Other complications such as antithyroid arthritis syndrome (1%), agranulocytosis (0.5%) and hepatitis (0.2%) occur rarely.We describe the case of a 20-year-old woman with Graves’ disease. Two weeks after the beginning of carbimazole therapy, she developed an urticarial reaction that led to discontinuation of treatment. Neve...

Background: Pasireotide is a second line treatment for acromegaly. Besides the growth hormone (GH) lowering efficacy, clinical use is limited by side effects on glycemic control. The aim of this study was to evaluate longitudinal changes in beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity induced by pasireotide therapy in patients with acromegaly.Methods: We performed a retrospective study in 33 patients. Efficacy (GH and IGF-I concentrations; tumor size) and ...

Background: Acromegaly is a rare disease with a long and complex diagnostic pathway leading to a substantial diagnostic delay associated with an increased risk of comorbidities and psychosocial deterioration. Qualitative methods are the gold standard to explore patients’ perspectives, focusing on how individuals understand and report what they are experiencing. To the best of our knowledge, no qualitative study has yet examined the diagnostic pathway of subjects with acro...

Background: The SAGIT® instrument, designed to assist clinicians in staging and managing acromegaly, is undergoing validation. A descriptive analysis of SAGIT Validation study baseline data revealed discrepancies between investigator-evaluated disease-control status, disease activity, hormonal control, and treatment decisions in acromegaly.Objective: To describe the baseline characteristics of patients in the SAGIT® valida...

Background: Oncocytic neoplasms are rare adrenal tumours usually considered as benign and non-functional. Conversely, in recent large nationwide study from COMETE network over 50% of the oncocytic adrenocortical tumours were diagnosed as carcinoma according to Lin Weiss-Bisceglia-score. However, until now only 11 cases of metastatic oncocytoma were reported in English literature.Case report: A 54-year-old man with history of abdominal pain and weight los...

Pituitary dysfunction can be a consequence of cranial radiotherapy. It usually occurs years after the treatment. However little is known on risk factors for pituitary dysfunction. The object of this study was to evaluate radiation induced pituitary toxicity of proton beam therapy in a cohort of adult chondrosarcoma patients.The files of 113 patients were reviewed. Mean age at the beginning of radiotherapy was 43 years old (18–76). Mean dose delivere...