Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Premature ejaculation (PE) and erectile dysfunction (ED) are considered pre-testicular causes of male subfertility. No previous study systematically evaluated the prevalence of ED and PE along with their possible correlations with clinical and colour-Doppler ultrasound (CDU) features in infertile men.Methods: Ejaculatory status, erectile function, prostatitis symptoms and psychopathological traits of 244 men complaining of couple infertilit...

Objective: To verify whether hypogonadism represents a risk factor for cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and to verify whether testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) improves CV parameters in subjects with known CV diseases (CVDs).Design: Meta-analysis.Methods: An extensive Medline search was performed using the following words ‘testosterone, CVD, and males’. The search was restricted to data from January 1, 196...

Background: The relationship between cardiovascular (CV) diseases (CVD) and testosterone levels in men has not been completely clarified.Aim: To evaluate the association between testosterone levels and CV risk in subjects with erectile dysfunction (ED) and to verify whether their body mass index might (BMI) represents a possible confounder in testosterone-related CV stratification.Material and methods: A consecutive series of 2269 ...

Introduction: Acromegaly secondary to an extrapituitary source of GH or GHRH is rare, usually associated with bronchial/thymic carcinoids, neuroendocrine enteropancreatic tumors or extrasellar somatotropinomas. Few series of acromegalic patients with negative pituitary imaging and lack of an ectopic source are reported in the literature.Methods: We report the clinical history and the laboratory and imaging results of an acromegalic woman with no clear ev...

Introduction: Occult neuroendocrine tumors are still a difficult diagnostic/therapeutic challenge.Case report: In November 2007, a 29-years-old Caucasian woman was admitted to our in-patients clinic with a 2-month history of rapidly progressing signs and symptoms of chronic hypercortisolism, including a bipolar disorder in psychosis. On admission the patient presented with hypokalemia (3.2 mEq/l), high levels of plasma (3164 nmol/l) and urinary free (26 ...

Introduction: Despite their efficacy in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) the popularity of inhibitors of 5α-reductase (5ARIs) is limited by their association with adverse sexual side effects. However, the real impact of 5ARIs on sex hormones and sexual function is controversial.Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the role of 5ARIs therapy on hormonal parameters and sexual function in men already complaining of sexual prob...

Introduction: Prostatitis-like symptoms (PLS) may originate from the prostate or from pelvic or scrotal organs. The National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) is considered the gold-standard instrument to assess PLS severity. Although several studies previously investigated the impact of prostatitis, vesiculitis or epididymitis on semen parameters, only a few studies evaluated the correlations between PLS and scrotal or transrectal colour-Dopple...

Introduction and objectives: Anxiety has a relevant impact on everyday life, including sexual life, and therefore is considered the final common pathway by which social, psychological and biological stressors negatively affect sexual functioning. The aim of this study is to define the psycho-biological correlates of free-floating anxiety in a large sample of patients complaining erectile dysfunction (ED) based sexual problems.Methods: We studied a consec...

Objectives: Hypogonadism is often associated with diabetes mellitus and both conditions represent major risk factors for erectile dysfunction (ED). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of diabetes-induced hypogonadism on ED using two distinct animal models: alloxan-rabbits and streptozotocin (STZ)-rats.Methods: A subgroup of diabetic animals was Testosterone (T) replaced. After 8 weeks from induction of diabetes, erectile function was evaluat...

Introduction: Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte disorder in clinical practice, and evidence to date indicates that severe hyponatremia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of our study was to perform a comprehensive meta-analysis that included all the published studies that compared mortality rates in subjects with or without hyponatremia of any degree.Methods: An extensive Medline, Embase, and Cochrane search was perfo...