Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is related to diabetes mellitus, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and obesity, which lead to cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD is the major cause of mortality and morbidity in CS. The aim of our study was to investigate CVD risk markers, such as asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2), highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), homocysteine, lipid levels, ankle-brachial index (ABI), and carotid...

Background: Endogenous Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is caused by overproduction of cortisol. Current first-line screening tests for CS can produce false positive results due to medication use and stress, rely heavily on patient adherence to sampling instructions, and only measure short-term cortisol exposure which limits sensitivity. In general multiple tests are required to establish a diagnosis. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) offer a minimally invasive way to measure lon...

Introduction: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a protein that has been linked to several cardiovascular risk factors and bone status. Stress and corticosteroid exposure can affect BDNF levels, although this has never been studied in Cushing’s syndrome (CS). The aims of this study were to establish if BDNF levels were reduced in CS and to check possible associations to cardiovascular risk factors and bone status.Methods: 52 patients (18 ac...

Background: In the presence of specific symptoms and signs, Cushing’s syndrome (CS) may be easily recognised. On the other hand, in overweight and obese patients without typical features of CS, diagnosis may be omitted. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of CS among overweight and obese patients.Methods: We enrolled 264 overweight and obese patients who has not overt CS clinical features between January 2012 and December 2014 at Ankara Numune Ed...

Introduction: Low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D3) lower than has been reported to be prevalent in several autoimmune diseases. The aims of the study were i) to evaluate the 25(OH)D3 levels in patients with Hashimato’s thyroiditis (HT) and ii) to investigate the relationships between 25(OH)D3, TSH, free T4, free T3, and anti-thyroid peroxidase (anti-TPO) levels in elderly patients with HT.Subjects and method: Stud...

Introduction: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is a complex disease which is caused by genetic as well as environmental factors. While the genetic predisposition to HT has been extensively investigated, the influence of most environmental factors still needs to be evaluated. Based on our previous study, we did not find any correlation between HT and the fact of cigarette smoking or the number of pack-years. We did, however, find a significant correlation between the age of s...

Background: The burden and management of Addison’s disease (AD) in Africa have not been well documented. We aimed to identify specific disease characteristics, patient demographics and patterns of clinical management in established AD in Africa, hypothesizing that deficiencies in diagnosis and management exist.Methods: An on-line survey of a large pool of medical practitioners’ experience from Africa and Middle East, relating to AD was conduc...

Introduction: The defecatory strain in constipated people can raise the blood pressure and occasionally trigger cardiovascular events.Methods: Review of the patient’s clinical records and the relevant literature.Results: Clinical Case: A 53-year old woman with history of breast surgery for adenocarcinoma and chronical constipation had severe resistant hypertension in the previous three years; she had hypertensive crises with ...

Objective: Cushing’s disease (CD) is difficult to diagnose because of its rarity and because its most common symptoms can overlap with those of other more common conditions. Remission rates in the postoperative vary between 55–85%. Overall, the mean time to diagnosis was 38 months. The objective of this study was to describe whether there is any pre-surgical clinical data that predicts CD remission after TSS.Patients and Methods: Retrospectiv...

Objective: Remission of Cushing’s disease (CD) in the postoperative vary between 55–85%, recurrence of up to 25%. Remission and recurrence rates vary dependent on tumor size and neurosurgical expertise. The objective of this study is to describe whether there are clinical data that help us to predece recurrence of CD after transsphenoidal surgery (TSS).Patients and Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients who underwent as TSS for CD. Varia...