Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) syndrome is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by the presence of endocrine and nonendocrine tumors. Until recently, more than 450 different germline mutations have been reported in MEN1 patients involving frameshift deletions, insertions, as well as nonsense mutations.Aim: To report a novel mutation in MEN1 gene in a young female with persisting primary hyperparathyroidism.<p class="ab...

Background: Subclinical Cushing’s syndrome (SCS) due to incidentally discovered adrenal adenomas (AI) has been associated with increased prevalence of hypertension, obesity, and impaired glucose tolerance which are established risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity. Although functional and morphological (structural) changes of endothelium have been correlated with cardiovascular morbidity this has not been looked into detail in patients with adrenal incidentalomas....

Background: The renin-angiotensin system is important for blood pressure control. Screening and diagnostic tests used so far to diagnose patients with aldosterone related hypertension does not take into consideration the stimulating ACTH effect on aldosterone secretion.Objective: To assess the role of aldosterone in essential hypertension using a modified suppression test, performed under suppressed ACTH levels.Subjects and methods...

Introduction: Catecholamine excess causes profound vasoconstriction, resulting in reduced intravascular volume. Pheochromocytoma crisis can be further complicated with acute stress (Takotsubo-like) cardiomyopathy, attributed to the toxic catecholamine effect on the myocardium, and cardiogenic shock leading to tissue ischemia.Aim: To present a rare case of pheochromocytoma crisis, complicated with fulminant cardiogenic shock, which led to life-threatening...

IntroductionPrimary aldosteronism (PA) is associated with cardiovascular events and target organ damage, such as left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and cardiac dysfunction. However the impact of subtle aldosterone secretion on cardiac function has not yet been evaluated.AimTo prospectively evaluate the cardiac function using echocardiographic indices in patients with biochemical overt, mild PA and essential hy...

Introduction: Pheocromocytomas represent a rare clinical entity with an incidence of approximately 0.8 per 100 000 person-years. Due to their rarity, the characteristics of patients with pheochromocytoma have not been thoroughly investigated yet.Aim: The assessment of pre- and post-operative clinical and biochemical characteristics as well as the evaluation of imaging and histological data of patients with pheochromocytomas.Design:...

Introduction: Cyclic Cushing’s syndrome is a rare disease characterized by episodes of cortisol hypersecretion followed by periods of normal cortisol secretion, ranging from days to months. We report a case of cyclic Cushing’s syndrome whose diagnosis was delayed for years.Case presentation: A 50-year-old female with a 16-year history of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was referred to the Endocrinology Unit due to suspected hypercortisolemia. She h...

Introduction: The prevalence of autonomous aldosterone secretion (AAS) in hypertensive subjects varies due to the use of various suppression tests and cut-off values. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of AAS in hypertensive subjects and test the anti-hypertensive effect of targeted treatment of the renin angiotensin II aldosterone system (RAAS) in AAS subjects.Description of methods/design: We investigated 336 hypertensive subjects with and without ...

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a very common liver disorder associated with insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. Insulin resistance is also a prominent feature even in lean women with the polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). The objective of this study was to identify the presence of NAFLD in young lean women with PCOS.Methods: Fifteen women with PCOS and 10 controls participated in the study.Mean...

Introduction: Approximately 90% of the hypertensive population is characterized as having essential hypertension. Apart from renin and K+, ACTH plays an important role in aldosterone secretion, being a potent stimulant under situations of stress. Up to date, the association between stress and aldosterone-related hypertension has not been studied and that is the aim of our study.Methods: 36 hypertensive patients and 14 matched for age and sex c...