Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Paraganglioma (PGL) develops from cells of the parasympathetic and sympathetic system. It usually manifests as a slow- growing and painless mass. PGL may be hereditary, benign, malignant, unilateral or bilateral tumors. In most cases PGL is located around the common carotid artery but may also be located within the middle ear or in the abdomen. Non functional retroperitoneal PGL are rare tumors, usually asymptomatic, and can attain big dimensions. Mutations in th...

Introduction: Cystic masses of neck consist of a variety of pathologic entities. The age of presentation and clinical examination narrow down the differential diagnosis. In adults are considered to be malignancies until proven otherwise (thyroid lesions, salivary gland neoplasms, metastatic squamous cell carcinoma and lymphatic malformations such as the cystic lymphangioma. Ultrasound (US) is often used for initial evaluation. Computed tomography (CT) and MRI provides addition...

Introduction: Thyrotropin-producing adenomas (TSH-omas) constitute about 1% of pituitary adenomas. TSH-omas are a rare cause of hyperthyroidism. In conjunction with biochemical parameters and dynamic endocrine testing, image evaluation of the pituitary gland and sella turcica is mandatory for establishing a correct diagnosis. TSH-omas are usually large tumors and tend to be invasive. Greater amounts of invasion correlate with incomplete surgical removal of the tumor and, thus,...

Germinal mutations of the oncogene RET originate the development of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) in carriers with phenotypic expression depending on the mutated codon and other unknown factors. Simultaneous detection of differentiated thyroid carcinomas is considered a casual phenomenon (collision tumours). We communicate two brothers with double heterozygous mutation of maternal inheritance at codon 611 of RET, TGC to TTT, changing to encode phenylalanine (C611F), with a...

Introduction: Sarcopenia, an age-associated loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, has been related to higher mortality in general population as well as in HIV-infected patients. In elderly, sarcopenia is a marker of frailty. The aim of our study was to describe the prevalence of sarcopenia and related factors in HIV-infected population.Methods: Skeletal muscle mass (SMM), total fat mass and body fat distribution were measured by DXA scan. Muscle mas...