Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acromegaly is characterized by a pituitary adenoma with excess secretion of GH and IGF-1 hormones. More than 90% of the cases are diagnosed as macroadenomas, after 5 to 10 years of clinical manifestation.Case report: We present the case of a 49 years old man with minor thalassemia, hospitalized in endocrinology department for a routine check of chronic autoimmune thyroiditis. A careful anamnesis showed that in the last year the patient was ...

Introduction: Patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) and hipopituitarism had a reduced life expectancy.Aims: To assess mortality ratio and to identify prognostic factors associated with mortality in patients with NFPA in the last decade.Methods: A 196 patients (83 F/113 M, mean age 52.7±0.9 years) with NFPA admitted in a single Neuroendocrinology Department between January 2001 and December 2010 were retrospec...

Background: Hyponatremia is a common electrolyte abnormality, especially in elderly, hospitalized patients, with a prevalence of severe hyponatremia (<125 mmol/l) up to 6–8%. Pituitary insufficiency (TSH+ACTH) may be difficult to diagnose, but it is important to differentiate it from SIADH and cerebral salt wasting syndrome.Aim: To describe the aetiology and outcome of patients with hyponatremia due to pituitary insufficiency in a tertiary endoc...

Objective: To assess the usefulness of the GnRH analogue Diphereline (Triptoreline) in the evaluation of central gonadal dysfunction in children and adults.Methods: A 18-month retrospective study of dynamic testing of the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis in 36 patients, 10 prepubescent children (<13 years for girls and 14 years for boys) and 26 postpubescent subjects. The children were investigated for disorders of sexual development while the adu...

In pheochromocytoma, intense lypolitic activity may lead to altered lipid profile, which can reverse after tumour removal.Aim: In this study, we evaluated before and at 3 months after surgery for a cathecholamine secreting tumour, a group of 19 patients diagnosed with pheochromocytoma (17) or paraganglioma (2).Patients and methods: 13 women and 6 men, aged 53.68±12.75 years (36–75), presented with a clinical picture of pa...

Introduction: Ovarian hyperthecosis is a rare cause of severe hyperandrogenism. Unlike PCOS, it is also described in postmenopausal women.We report the case of a 67-year-old obese (BMI=37.5 kg/m2) and dyslipidemic woman, gravid 5 para 3, menopause at 49, with poor controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus (HbA1c=10%). She was in treatment with insulin for the last 12 years, currently on 168 U/24 h (1.71 U/kg)- indicating severe insulin resistance, c...

Objectives: Endothelial dysfunction has been described as a predictor of cardiovascular complications. Most important cause for early mortality in acromegaly is cardiovascular involvement, cut-off nadir GH <2.5 ng/ml predicting longer survival The aim of our study was to determine the correlations between endothelial dysfunction and GH oversecretion, associated or not with other cardiovascular risk factors.Design and method: Cross-sectional study inc...

Objective: The best biochemical strategy to follow in pheochromocytoma clinical diagnosis.Patients and methods: We selected two groups of patients: 24 pheochromocytomas (further diagnosed by CT): 20 women and 4 men aged 20–68 years and a normotensive group: 100 subjects without endocrine disfunction: 83 women and 17 men aged 19–70 years. In both groups we tested five parameters: plasma normetanephrines/metanephrines (NMNp/MNp); urine normetanep...

Objective: To introduce the best biochemical strategy for carcinoid syndrome diagnosis.Patients and methods: We selected two groups of patients: one group of 75 patients suspected of carcinoid syndrome: 57 women aged between 19 and 78 years and 18 men aged 17–81 years and a 80 healthy subjects group without endocrine disfunction: 56 women aged between 27 and 78 years and 24 men aged 17–81 years. We established median values for all parameters i...

A 50–year-old female with a 2 year-history of hypertension and diabetes was admitted to a county hospital, where treatment with clonidine and beta-blockers was started, without success. Abdominal CT showed a large left adrenal tumour, and her initial blood pressure (BP) was over 300/170 mmHg, which dropped to 80/30 mmHg. She was transferred for evaluation of a possible pheochromocytoma (PHEO). At admission her BP was 260/160 mmHg, heart rate (HR) 120 bpm, with anxiety, di...