Endocrine Abstracts

Intracranial germ cell tumors (GCTs) account for only 0.4–3.4% of all central nervous system (CNS) tumors. A 18 year old patient with an unremarkable medical history was presented to the ophtalmology outpatient clinic with a 2 month history of loss of vision at left eye and blurrred vision at right also headache and fatigue. Ophtalmological examination showed loss of visual acuity at left eye and decreased 0.05–0.1 at the right and bilateral optic atrophy. Further ph...

Introduction: The aldosterone-to-renin ratio (A/R) is the most frequently used screening test for primary hyperaldosteronism (PH) and a confirmation test is recommended when it is high. We aimed to determine the frequency of PH in patients with high A/R and investigated possible clinical features that might help to prevent unnecesary confirmation tests.Method: Patients who underwent saline infusion test because of high A/R (>3.8) were retrospectively...

Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas are rare but life threatening tumors secreting catecholamines. They could be either sporadic or inherited. Either isolated or integrated in genetic syndromes such as Von Hippel Lindau (VHL) (OMIM193300) which is an autosomal dominant disorder resulting from germline mutations in the VHL gene.Observation: We report a 42-year-old man operated at 8 years old for bilateral pheochromocytoma revealed by adrenergic symptoms ...

Introduction: Cortisol has numerous actions on glucose metabolism and insulin action which explain the frequency of glucose abnormalities in Cushing’s syndrome (CS). The aim of our work was to assess the prevalence and characteristics of diabetes in CS.Material and methods: This is a retrospective study concerning 51 CS (44F/7M) in whom we looked for the presence of diabetes either by fasting glycaemia or 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. Thereafter...

Introduction: Cortisol activates lipolysis in adipose tissue resulting in the release of free fatty acids into the circulation, it also activates cholesterol and triglycerides synthesis. The consequence is an increase in total circulating cholesterol and triglycerides with their inherent risks on the cardiovascular system. The aim of our work was to assess the prevalence and characteristics of dyslipidaemia in Cushing’s syndrome (CS).Material and me...

Introduction: Patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) are prone to hypertension as cortisol stimulates renal reabsorption of sodium and enhances vascular sensitivity to catecholamine and angiotensin II. This explains the frequency of hypertension in patients with CS. The aim of our work was to assess the prevalence and characteristics of hypertension in CS.Material and methods: This is a retrospective study concerning 51 CS (44F/7M) in whom we looked ...

Introduction: Pituitary apoplexy is a rare endocrine emergency characterized by the sudden onset of severe headaches, vomiting, visual abnormalities and pituitary dysfunction secondary to an acute hemorrhage or infarction within a pituitary adenoma.Subjects and methods: We report a retrospective study from 2000 to 2014 of 23 cases with pituitary apoplexy. Their mean age was 38.7±14.8 years, with a male to female ratio of 2:1.R...

Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune and polygenic disorder. The genetic loci conferring susceptibility need to be still defined. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene has been reported to be associated with GD in various ethnic groups. The aim of the present study was to determine whether CTLA-4 gene was associated with GD in Turkish population. We evaluated the allele distribution of the following loci: CTLA-4 exon 1 (+49 A/G) and promoter (−318 C/T) reg...

Pituitary apoplexy (PA) is an endocrine emergency characterized by acute, severe headache, visual disturbances, ophthalmoplegia, hypopituitarism and altered consciousness. This condition usually arises in an underlying pituitary adenoma. 27-year-old female without a known pitutary lesion presented to the emergency department in December 2015 with a 8-hour history of with sudden and severe frontal headache, fever, blurred vision, nausea, confusion at 36 weeks of gestation. The ...

Introduction: Pituitary apoplexy is a rare endocrine emergency characterized by the sudden onset of severe headaches, vomiting, visual abnormalities and pituitary dysfunction secondary to an acute hemorrhage or infarction within a pituitary adenoma.Subjects and methods: We report a retrospective study from 2000 to 2014 of 23 cases with pituitary apoplexy. Their mean age was 38.7 years ±10 years, with a male to female ratio of 2:1. All patients benef...