Endocrine Abstracts

Most cases of gynecomastia are idiopathic. Among the most frequently identified etiologies are: persistent pubertal gynecomastia, hypogonadism, anabolic steroids and other pharmaceutical drugs use. In the literature, ginecomastia is a well-recognized manifestation of thyrotoxicosis in male patients (in the range of 10% to 40%). However, it is extremely rare in clinical practice as the initial presentation of thyrotoxicosis. The two main factors that contribute to gynecomastia ...

Introduction: Prembrolizumab, a programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor, is one of the immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) that have revolutionized cancer therapy. However, ICIs can also trigger immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in different organ systems, including endocrine glands. While thyroid dysfunction is among the most common endocrinopathies reported, ICI-induced diabetes mellitus (DM) is extremely rare, with an overall incidence ranging from 0.9 to 2%.</p...

Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is associated with a considerable risk of complications including thromboembolic events (TE). They occur mostly within the first 2–3 months postoperatively. When present before surgery, CS has high rates of perioperative mortality and morbidity. The benefit of steroidogenesis inhibitors after TE is not fully known. Furthermore, little guidance is available regarding TE assessment/management in CS. We report a case of a 34-year-old male admitte...

False elevation of estradiol(E2) due to immunoassay interference is a rare but important phenomenon reported in the literature. It is most commonly related to cross-reactivity(CR) from drugs sharing structural similarity with E2, namely fulvestrant and exemestane. These laboratory interferences(LI) can lead to unnecessary investigation/inappropriate treatments. Therefore, in such instances, a more selective and sensitive method is required. We present the case of a young femal...

IntroductionTurner syndrome(TS) is characterized by complete/partial monosomy or by a structural defect in one of X chromosomes. Despite clinical hallmarks of short stature(SS) and gonadal dysgenesis(GD), phenotype is variable and related to underlying chromosomal pattern. Loss of the distal segment of the short arm of x-chromosome(Xp-), including haploinsufficiency of short stature homeobox-containing (SHOX) gene, is thought to be the main factor for gr...

Most differential diagnoses of unilateral adrenal lesions include non-functional adenoma, adrenocortical carcinoma or pheochromocytoma. Primary adrenal lymphoma(PAL) is an extremely uncommon type of primary extranodal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma(<1%). Most cases are bilateral (~75%), being unilateral PAL scarcely reported. The apparent unilateral involvement of this entity at presentation, in the CT scan/MRI may difficult the diagnosis, delaying the start of chemotherapy. ...

Introduction: Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are a heterogeneous group of tumors with different presentations. Clinical management of these tumors is complex. Our aim was to evaluate the clinical characteristics/postsurgical outcomes of NFPAs and to identify predictive factors of good response to surgery.Methods: Retrospective analysis of NFPA, who underwent surgery and followed in our hospital, from 2015-2022.Results: W...

IntroductionPheochromocytoma(PHEO) occurs in pregnancy with an estimated incidence of 0.007%. Its rarity and overlapping presentation with other pregnancy-related hypertensive disorders make the diagnosis really challenging. If left unrecognized, may result in increased maternal and fetal mortality. There are no guidelines on approaching PHEO during pregnancy. This case highlights the difficulties encountered in managing this condition in pregnancy.<...

Introduction: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare entity, usually associated with a poor prognosis. There are still many areas of uncertainty regarding its approach.Methods: A Portuguese ACC register was established in 2020, including information from 24 endocrine centres. Kaplan-Meier was used to calculate overall survival and recurrence; log- rank test to assess survival and progression free survival (PFS) differences between groups; cox-regressio...