Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Urinary free cortisol (UFC) determination has suboptimal sensitivity (SE) and specificity (SP) especially in mild Cushing’s syndrome (CS).Aim: To determine the performance of UFC and its metabolite cortisone (UFE) measured using accurate assays such as HPLC and LC–MS/MS in diagnosing patients with CS.Patients and methods: Sixty-seven patients with CS were compared to 49 sex- and age-matched non-CS. UFF and U...

Introduction: Pasireotide is a multireceptor-targeted somatostatin analogue effective in the treatment of patients with Cushing’s disease (CD) but associated with an increased risk of hyperglycaemia. We prospectively investigate the role of an acute pasireotide suppression test (PST) in predicting long-term response in CD.Methods: Eleven patients with CD (seven females, four males; mean age 45±17.3 years) received at 0900 h a single s.c. inject...

Context: Late-night salivary cortisol (LNSC) measurement has been promoted as an ideal screening test for the diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome (CS). However, its performance using commercially available assays has not been widely evaluated and limited data are available on its use in population with chronic medical conditions.Aim: To compare the diagnostic performance of LNSC (routine use) in patients with CS and in a patients’s group with diffe...

Introduction and aim: A prompt diagnosis of Cushing’s Syndrome (CS) in high-risk populations is mandatory: 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test (1-mg DST); late night salivary cortisol (LNSC) and urinary free cortisol (UFC) are recommend, despite thresholds calculated in retrospective studies. Our aim was to study the diagnostic accuracy of LNSC measured with chemiluminescence assay in a prospective study, confirming discrepancies with mass spectrometry (MS).<p class="...

Introduction: Pasireotide is the first pituitary-directed drug approved for Cushing’s disease (CD). We report our 10-years experience with pasireotide in CD reviewing and analysing data about all the patients treated with pasireotide at our referral centre both in randomised trials and in clinical practice.Patients and methods: Twenty active CD patients were treated. Fourteen patients were treated with pasireotide in randomised trials and six patien...

Introduction: New onset diabetes after transplantation (NODAT) is a recognized metabolic complication of kidney transplantation: its rates at 12 months after transplantation is between 20 and 50% for kidney recipients and it is associated with increased risks of graft rejection, infection, cardiovascular disease and death. Transplant-specific risk factors for NODAT,such as corticosteroids and calcineurin inhibitors, play a dominant role in its pathogenesis. Furthermore polymor...

A recent phase III clinical trial has demonstrated that the treatment with the somatostatin analogue pasireotide normalizes cortisol secretion in 15–28% of patients with Cushing’s disease (CD). The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 6-months pasireotide treatment on clinical and hormonal profiles in a group of CD patients with mild to moderate disease according with the real-word evidence. Thirty-two patients with CD unsuccessfully treated ...