Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Overt hypercortisolism is highly associated with venous thromboembolism. Patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) typically show an alteration of the intrinsic coagulation pathway, especially an increase in factor VIII (f-VIII), and increased levels of coagulation inhibitors (i.e., antithrombin III) as a compensatory response. Mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS) has been variably associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events and mortality compared to...

Introduction: Cardiac abnormalities are common in patients with acromegaly and contribute to the increased morbidity and mortality of the disease. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the established, non-invasive gold standard for measuring morpho-functional changes of the heart. We aimed to detect cardiac alterations in patients with acromegaly through CMR and to identify potential risk factors associated with cardiac impairment.Materials and methods: T...

Background: Patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI) require long-term glucocorticoid (GC) replacement therapy and generally show an increased prevalence of bone metabolism alterations. Only few data are available on bone safety of dual-release Hydrocortisone (DR-HC) therapy.Objective: To evaluate bone metabolism in both primary AI (PAI) and secondary AI (SAI) during long-term therapy with DR-HC.Methods: We studied patients with AI...

Background: Patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) typically show an alteration in the intrinsic coagulation pathway, leading to an increased risk of venous thromboembolism. Cortisol autonomy has been variably associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events and mortality compared to patients with non-functioning adrenal adenomas (NFA), particularly in women younger than 65 years. However, dedicated studies describing coagulation status in patients with adrenal inciden...

Background: Hyperandrogenism in postmenopausal women is extremely rare and requires exclusion of malignancy.Case reports: 1. A 65-year-old woman was referred to our Department of Endocrinology for appearance of hirsutism and alopecia for about 2 years. Abdomen-pelvis CT scan showed a 2-cm lesion (45 HU) at the left adrenal gland, confirmed by MRI scan, without loss of signal intensity in opposed-phase sequences. In addition, in the right ovary, a 3-cm le...

Context: Acromegaly is associated with several metabolic and cardio-respiratory comorbidities, with a relative increase in the last years of cancer mortality. Although the GH/ IGF-1 axis has long been supposed to play a role on immune modulation, immune function in acromegaly is poorly known.Objective: This observational, prospective, single site, pilot study (NCT05069324) aims to analyse peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) subpopulations in acrom...

Prolactin (PRL) exerts independent hypertrophic effects on prostate in in vivo and in vitro experimental models, and prostatic PRL receptors are known to activate cell proliferation pathways such as MAPK and STAT. Nevertheless, in men with hyperprolactinemia the risk of prostate cancer has been found reduced suggesting a role of concomitant hypogonadism. Chronic cabergoline treatment generally normalizes PRL treatment and improves gonadal function. The curren...

Background: Little is known about possible predictors for hormonal function following pituitary surgery. Tumor consistency has recently emerged as a key factor in surgical planning for pituitary adenomas, influencing both the surgical outcome and the onset of postoperative complications. However, its impact on postoperative endocrine function has yet to be explored.Objectives: To evaluate the impact of tumor consistency on the development of postoperativ...

Background: The evaluation of postoperative adrenal insufficiency (PAI) and hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis recovery in patients with adrenal incidentaloma (AI) undergoing unilateral adrenalectomy remains limited.Objectives: We aimed to identify predictive factors for PAI development and evaluate HPA axis recovery in AI patients undergoing unilateral adrenalectomy.Methods: We retrospectively analysed adrenal fun...