Endocrine Abstracts

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) are the second most common variant of pituitary tumors. They are presented by compression symptoms, hypopituitarism and in rec as incidental findings during brain imaging. When symptomatic, primary therapy for NFPAs is surgery most commonly by the trans-sphenoidal (TSS) approach. Medical therapy is not generally recommended in this setting, particularly when immediate decompression of the optic chiasm is needed. Despite the debulking e...

Incidentally detected adrenal masses are increasingly encountered in clinical practice due to better availability and accessibility of imaging procedures and are considered to be amongst the most common tumors in humans, with an estimated prevalence ranging from 0.4 to 4.4%. Malignancy is rare amongst patients with adrenal incidentalomas presenting in an endocrine clinic. The imaging phenotype is very helpful in distinguishing benign adenomas from malignant lesions. From the e...

Hypocorticotropism refers to ACTH insufficiency, which may be partial or complete, isolated or combined, genetic or acquired, pituitary or hypothalamic in origin. As a result it leads to secondary adrenal failure. Adrenal secretion of cortisol and of adrenal androgens is mainly affected; aldosterone secretion is normal. Symptoms of hypocorticotropism include progressive malaise and weight loss. Because aldosterone secretion is intact salt wasting, volume contraction and hypoka...

Although the prevalence of subclinical hypercortisolism (SH) in unilateral incidentalomas (UI) has been extensively reported, patients with bilateral incidentalomas (BI) have not been thoroughly investigated. Moreover, the management of BI poses great dilemmas if surgery is considered, since bilateral adrenalectomy leads to life-long replacement. In the present study, we aimed to describe the characteristics of patients with BI in comparison to their unilateral counterparts. W...

Introduction: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) encompasses a group of enzymatic defects in cortisol biosynthesis resulting in adrenal hyperplasia through chronic compensatory ACTH stimulation. Aldosterone synthase deficiency, however, is associated with normal cortisol secretion and there are no reports on whether it may be associated with adrenocortical hyperplasia.Case Presentation: A 37-year-old, Greek female was referred for further investigation...

Acromegaly is a rare disease that leads to considerable morbidity and mortality, both reversible by adequate control of the disease. However, patients that could be adequately controlled confront delays in achieving treatment targets. The aim of the present study was to estimate the time to disease control after diagnosis and the reason leading to control delays. We retrospectively studied 119 acromegalic patients (aged 46.4±12.5; 71 females). Following appropriate treatm...

Introduction: The interplay of cortisol (F) and adipose tissue is complex and in many aspects is still obscure. Plasma F has been shown to be positively associated with lipolysis.Aim: To study in adipose tissue indices of lipolysis vs tissue F with microdialysis (MD).Subjects and methods: We studied 46 mechanically ventilated patients with a diagnosis of septic/non-septic shock, systemic inflammatory response syndrome or s...

Generously supported by IPSEN)-->Endogenous hypercortisolism leads to increased morbidity and mortality. As Cushing’s disease (CD) is a rare disorder, data on co-morbidities outcome after current treatment interventions are scarce.We studied 78 patients with CD (67 females, 11 males, mean age 42.2±1.4 years), with a follow up of 90.8±7.8 months. All patients underwent transsphenoidal surgery (TSS...

Several alterations of the metabolic processes develop during sepsis. Adiponectin and resistin are amongst the main adipokines that may contribute to the metabolic adaptations observed in the context of critical illness. However, there is scarce data on the circulating pattern of these adipokines in human sepsis. Therefore we aimed to describe the variation in circulating levels of resistin and adiponectin during the course of sepsis and examine whether they are related to the...

Aberrant hormone receptors have been demonstrated in macronodular adrenal hyperplasia or, rarely, unilateral adenomas causing Cushing’s syndrome but their prevalence in adrenal incidentalomas (AI) remains uncertain. Therefore we evaluated patients with bilateral AI for evidence of abnormal response to physiological stimuli. We also compared their biochemical characteristics with those of patients with unilateral AI.Assessment of adrenal function was...