Endocrine Abstracts

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a rather frequent disorder characterized by high plasma PTH and calcium. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in all areas of the world. Vitamin D deficiency has been described in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. When present, vitamin D deficiency may be associated with large size parathyroid adenomas and musculoskeletal pain.The aim was to describe two cases of primary hyperparathyroidism and vitamin D deficiency.</...

Acromegaly is known to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk. Additionally, acromegaly is known to be associated with disordered carbohydrate metabolism. Lipid levels in acromegaly have not been extensively studied. The aim was to study lipid levels in acromegaly.Methods: In 32 patients with newly diagnosed acromegaly lipid levels were studied. In particular total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measu...

Site-discordance in bone mineral density (BMD) assessment is common and affects patient categorization. Greater number of osteoporotic sites correlates with lower T score at each index site. The effect of BMD measurement at the contralateral femur on osteoporosis diagnosis has been previously evaluated.The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of BMD measurement at the contralateral femur on osteoporosis diagnosis.M...

Biological agents have been successfully introduced in the therapeutics of autoimmune diseases, in particular rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. However, their use has been found to increase the risk of serious infections and neoplasms. Infliximab, a neutralizing antibody to tumor necrosis factor-alpha, appears to be effective therapy in ankylosing spondylitis. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) plays an important role in host defense and tumor growth control. Therefore...

Objective: Quality of life is currently considered a major factor in the assessment of disease outcome. The aim was to assess quality of life in acromegaly and the effect of somatostatin analogues on it.Design: This study included 101 patients with acromegaly, mean age 59.51±1.35 years (mean ± S.E.M.), with a disease duration of 12.88±0.96 years. All subjects completed the Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (AcroQoL) w...

Well differentiated thyroid carcinoma is associated with prolonged survival in terms of decades and anaplastic carcinoma is associated with survival in months. Intermediate malignancy with a more guarded prognosis is also known to exist.The aim was to describe the case of a patient with a mixed papillary, poorly differentiated and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma.A female patient, aged 73 years presented with a multinodular goiter and ...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem multifactorial autoimmune disorder. The survival of SLE patients has been improved by the administration of immunomodulatory therapy. Patients, however, are affected by late onset complications of the disease such as atherosclerosis. Lipoprotein Lp(a) is a known risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis.The aim was to study Lp(a) levels and their relationship with disease activity in SLE patien...

Epidemiological studies indicate that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have increased mortality. Cardiovascular disease seems to be one of the major causes of death in patients with RA. Lipoprotein disorders are observed in patients with systemic autoimmune disorders as well as in patients with RA. Lipoprotein Lp(a) is an independent risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease.The aim of the study was estimate lipoprotein Lp(a) levels and...

Fine needle aspiration is used extensively in the diagnostic evaluation of thyroid nodules. However, its diagnostic efficacy may be reduced by non-diagnostic findings. The aim was to study the effect of nodule size on the diagnostic efficacy of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy in thyroid nodules.Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed in 210 patients with thyroid nodules. Cytology results were compared to nodule size....

Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy is used extensively in the diagnostic evaluation of thyroid nodules. However, its diagnostic efficacy is hampered by the presence of non-diagnostic cytology results.The aim was to study the effect of previous thyroxine suppression therapy on the diagnostic efficacy of fine needle aspiration biopsy in thyroid nodules.Ultrasound-guided aspiration biopsy was performed in 45 patients, 31 ...