Endocrine Abstracts

Levothyroxine (L-T4) is the mainstay of treatment of hypothyroidism. Marked elevation of thyrotropin (TSH) in patients on high replacement doses is rare and can result from malabsorption, drug interaction or poor compliance. The levothyroxine absorption test is required to distinguish these causes and has proved to be safe. This test measures the serum free thyroxine (FT4) response to 1 mg of oral L-T4 over 4–24 h.Clinical cases: Case no 1: A 28-yea...

Introduction: Pheochromocytomas/paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors. Although mostly sporadic, about 1/3 of the cases correspond to inherited autosomal dominant syndromes, often associated with germline mutations of the SDHD, SDHC and SDHB genes. The association with the SDHAF2(SDH5) gene has been recently discovered, with only few cases published worldwide, and it presents as a paraganglioma of the head and neck, without previous known description of other locations...

Introduction: Generalised lipodystrophy is clinically characterised by lipoatrophy, hepatomegaly, hypertriglyceridemia, insulin resistance and acromegaloid features. It is recognised that diencephalic syndrome is a rare presentation of hypothalamic tumours in infants and young children. Children with this disorder have profound emaciation and generalised loss of subcutaneous fat, growth acceleration, hyperkinesia and euphoria. Hypothalamic tumours, particularly pilocytic astro...

BackgroundObesity is closely associated with impaired adipose tissue function. Although bariatric surgery is the treatment of choice for severe obesity and its related conditions, there are conflicting data on the reversal of adipose tissue dysfunction after surgery-induced weight loss. We hypothesise that local steroid hormone availability influences fat deposition or mobilisation and that these changes track with weight loss improvements, because plasm...

BackgroundRecent knowledge implicates a differential expression of the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNA splice variants (i.e., IGF-1Ea, IGF-1Eb and IGF-1Ec) in cancerous tissues, implying possible specific roles of the encoded IGF-1 protein isoforms in cancer biology. In particular, there is growing evidence that IGF-1Ec isoform may plays a distinct biological role in various types of cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate wheth...

IntroductionA strong association between autoimmune atrophic gastritis and other autoimmune disorders has been well documented. The prevalence of gastric mucosa alterations in patients with thyroid autoimmunity is not well known. The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of intestinal metaplasia in patients with Graves’ disease (GD) and positive anti-parietal cell antibodies (APCA).Methods<p class=...

IntroductionPheochromocytomas (PHEO) and paragangliomas (PGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors of the autonomic nervous system, originating from neural crest. Despite the same embryological origin, there are some differences between them.AimWe searched for differences in method of discovery, clinical and biochemical phenotype, of sporadic vs hereditary PHEO/PGL in a cohort of Flemish patients.<p class="abst...

IntroductionThe aim of the present feasibility study was to examine the impact of an Internet of Things (IoT) telemonitoring program, for elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DMT2) on glycemic control.MethodsIn this feasibility, prospective, randomized, single-blinded, multicenter study elderly patients with DMT2 capable to use the IoT telemonitoring device, with an HbA1c > 7.5 were followed-up...

IntroductionGlycemic control during hospitalization has an impact on the length of hospital stay (LOS) and infection rates. This knowledge has led to a growing concern with hyperglycemia and its repercussions.ObjectivesThis study aims to evaluate the glycemic profile and diabetes mellitus (DM) treatment paradigm of hospitalized patients in a central hospital by main diagnosis and LOS.Me...

IntroductionJacobsen syndrome (JS) is a rare gene disorder caused by a terminal deletion of the long arm of chromosome 11. The estimated prevalence of Jacobsen syndrome is 1/100.000 births. It is most commonly presented with psychomotor and physical growth retardation, dysmorphic facial features, thrombocytopenia or pancytopenia. It is also characterized by congenital heart defects, and kidney, gastrointestinal tract, genitalia, CNS and skeletal deformit...