Endocrine Abstracts

Teratomas comprise 0.5% of all intracranial tumors. 15 cases of sellar teratoma have been described in the last 24 years (yrs). A 29-yrs female pan-hypopituitaric patient (pt) was admitted to our Pituitary Unit. At 6-yrs age, for polyuria and growth delay, an endocrine evaluation revealed diabetes insipidus and hypopituitarism. Cranial contrasted-MRI (cc-MRI) showed pituitary stalk thickening and a low intensity suprasellar lesion. Histological examination (HE) was suggestive ...

Acromegalic osteopathy is an emerging complication of chronic GH excess characterized by increase in bone turnover, deterioration in bone microarchitecture and high risk of vertebral fractures (VFs). Medical therapies may exert direct effects on peripheral targets leading to improvement of clinical outcomes regardless of biochemical control of acromegaly. In this longitudinal study, we compared the effects pegvisomant (PegV) and somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) on VF risk ...

Pasireotide, a multireceptor-targeted somatostatin analogue, was approved for the treatment of acromegaly, after being studied in two large, randomised, multi-center clinical trials. We reported the history of a 76 years old man affected by acromegaly, treated with Pasireotide long acting release (LAR) as first line therapy. Acromegaly was diagnosed in 2009, as the result of endocrinological investigation suggested by altered facial appearance and macroglossia. Hormonal assays...

Introduction: In 2004, the WHO defined atypical pituitary adenomas (APAs) those with Ki-67 >3%, excessive p53 expression and increased mitotic activity. The usefulness of this classification is still controversial.Aim: To compare the clinical and prognostic features in a series of typical and atypical pituitary adenomas.Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 343 consecutive PAs. APAs represented 18.7% of the cases. ...

Introduction: Acromegaly (Acro) is characterized by insulin sensitivityreduction, glucose intolerance (IGT) and diabetes mellitus (DM2 in 15%–38% of patients). Studies that investigated action of medical therapies for acro on glucose metabolism, didn’t provide conclusive data. Association between blood glucose (BG) levels and serum IGF-I levels in patients with DM2 and acro has been suggested, however,IGF-I levels and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) correlation is still con...

Introduction: Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by a low bone mass and the development of nontraumatic fractures, most commonly in the spine. However, bone mineral density (BMD) alone is not completely satisfactory in vertebral fracture risk assessment.Aim of the study: To identify clinical and laboratoristic factors associated with an increased risk of vertebral fractures in osteoporotic Caucasian women and to define a new clinically relevant scal...

Human seminal plasma contains a large array of proteins required for the normal physiology of spermatozoa and fertilization. To provide informations about the physiological mechanisms of male fertility we performed proteomic studies on human seminal plasma by a top-down approach. A semen sample was collected in a fertile normospermic man (sperm concentration 60×106 per ml; progressive motility 58%; normal morphology 45%). Hormonal blood assay was performed: tes...

Adult GHD patients may have reduced BMD with high risk of vertebral and non-vertebral fractures which is thought to be reverted by long-term rhGH replacement therapy. In this study we aimed at identifying the determinant factors of vertebral fractures, as assessed by a radiological morphometric approach, in a cohort of adult patients with untreated GHD. Forty-two patients (27 males, 15 females; median age: 48 years, range: 30–67) with untreated severe (as defined by a pea...

Background: Primary empty sella (ES) can be asymptomatic or associated with endocrine and neurological alterations, such as visual defects. Studies in a large number of patients is still lacking.Objective: To study visual deficit in ES and its relationship with hormonal status.Material and Methods: We recorded visual evoked potentials (VEP) by white/black, red/black, blue/black patterns. Isoluminance between red and blue checks all...

IntroductionPrimary autoimmune hypophysitis (PAHs) is a rare inflammatory disease of the pituitary gland. Although largely investigated, the pathogenesis of PAH is not completely clarified. We aimed to investigate the immune response in PAHs.Material and methodsSerum anti-pituitary and anti-hypothalamus antibodies (respectively APAs and AHAs) were investigated though an indirect immunofluorescence on monkey h...