Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Gynecomastia is a relatively common reason for consultation, with a high prevalence in the neonatal period, puberty and with aging. The diagnostic approach should be more thorough in normal-weight individuals with recent onset of gynecomastia, rapid growth of breast tissue, or in the setting of a large painful breast. Besides the evaluation of liver function, testosterone, estradiol, LH and β-hCG, testicular ultrasound evaluation is important to exclude test...

Introduction: The association between autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and endogenous hypercortisolism is rare. The latter is usually misinterpreted as iatrogenic in the case of patients taking exogenous systemic corticosteroid therapy. The excess endogenous glucocorticoids may play an important role in suppressing autoimmune activity. Similarly, the abrupt resolution of endogenous hypercortisolism may lead to a rebound worsening of autoimmuni...

Introduction: Androgen-producing tumors are a rare cause of hyperandrogenism (±0.2%). Ovarian steroid cell tumors represent <0.1% of all ovarian tumors. They may present at any age and in 12–50% of cases are associated with virilization. The majority of these tumors are benign or low-grade malignanies.Clinical case: A 74-year-old female patient, with history of vaginal hysterectomy for genital prolapse at the age of 50, is referred to Endoc...

Introduction: Precocious pubarche is defined as pubic hair onset before age eight in girls and age nine in boys. In 5–20% of cases the cause is late-onset congenital adrenal hyperplasia (LO-CAH), which is due mainly to non-classic 21-hydroxylase deficiency. If not promptly diagnosed, it can lead to accelerated bone maturation, short final height, and in adulthood to severe acne, hirsutism and infertility.Case report: Adolescent male, 15 years-old, h...

Introduction: Recently, noninsulinoma pancreatogenous hypoglycaemia syndrome (NIPHS) has been described following Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Surgery in morbidly obese patients. It has been proposed that hypoglycaemia might be a consequence of a failure to adaptively decrease insulin secretion after surgery. The authors present a case of a morbidly obese patient with severe hypoglycaemias beginning 3 months after gastric banding surgery.Case report: A 60-ye...

Introduction: Gilbert syndrome is one of the most common inherited diseases, with a prevalence of 5–7%. It is caused by a mutation in UGT1A1 gene, which is in turn responsible for a deficiency in bilirubin glucuronidation. It courses with unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia, and jaundice may occur in adolescence, after fasting, exercise, or in menses, and also with certain drugs. Individuals with Gilbert syndrome seem to have a reduction in the prevalence of micro- and macrov...

Introduction: The highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) completely changed the natural history and body composition of the infected patients. The lipodystrophy syndrome of HIV-infected patients (IP) is characterized by fat mass redistribution in the limbs, face lipoatrophy and abdominal lipohypertrophy. Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan (DEXA) and bioelectrical impedance (BIA) are techniques to determine body composition (BC).Aims: Evaluate th...

Introduction: The course of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) is insidious and, before its development, other glucose homeostasis abnormalities can be detected: impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and elevation of HbA1c.Aims: To compare the prevalence of glucose homeostasis abnormalities in obese patients, using diagnostic criteria of American Diabetes Association (ADA) 2009, ADA 2010 and International Diabetes Federation (IDF) 2...