Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Neuroblastomas are malignant tumors that arise from sympathetic plexus or adrenal medulla. Their clinical behavior can range from spontaneous regression to aggressive disease. Like paragangliomas, they have the capacity to secrete catecholamines and to express somatostatin receptors, which is important for diagnostic and treatment purposes. However, the differential diagnosis with paraganglioma can be challenging. We present a case of a catecholamine-producing tumo...

Introduction: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) prognosis is usually favorable, even when metastatic radioiodine avid disease is present. Radioiodine-refractory disease, usually a sign of higher aggressiveness, can be detected by 18F-FDG-PET/CT. There is a reverse relationship between iodine and FDG accumulation in thyroid cancer lesions, the so-called ‘‘flip-flop’’ phenomenon: when thyroid cancer cells dedifferentiate they tend to lose the...

Introduction: Hyponatremia is the most common hydroelectrolytic disturbance in clinical practice. Multiple causes exist for its occurrence, being the etiological diagnosis sometimes complex. In patients with suprasellar tumours it is even harder due to several confounding factors. Management of these patients is difficult as it conflicts with chemotherapy-associated hyperhydration protocols. We present a case that exemplifies this.Clinical case: Four yea...

Introduction: Type 1 gastric endocrine tumors (T1-GET) incidence is increasing world while mainly due to widespread use of upper endoscopy. Autoimmune disease (AID) is the hallmark of T1-GET, pernicious anemia is often found at presentation. Association with lymphocytic thyroiditis (LT) has been described.Aims: Retrospective evaluation of GET data from patients (pts) followed at IPO-Porto, including the presence of other AID with emphasis to LT.<p cl...

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are used to treat inflammatory diseases because they downregulate expression of numerous inflammatory mediators. This is at least partly achieved through functional interference of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) with transcription factors such as NF-κB (transrepression). On the other hand, activation of transcription by GR is responsible for some of the side effects of GCs. Efforts to improve the safety profile of GCs are focused on the identificat...

Background: Familial paraganglioma type 1 syndrome is a hereditary form of paraganglioma due to an autosomal dominant, paternally inherited, germinal mutation in the SDHD subunit. Intestinal pseudo-obstruction is a rare complication of secretory PGL. We present a case of a patient with a malignant PGL syndrome type 1 who developed intestinal pseudo-obstruction.Clinical case: The patient was a Dutch male, aged 39 years, carrier of a germinal mutation in e...

Introduction: Hyperprolactinemia is associated with suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and it’s a frequent cause of infertility, occurring in about 30–40% of infertile women. The bioactive fraction of prolactin is a 23-kDa monomer. However, there are other isoforms with reduced or absent bioactivity, such as macroprolactin, which can be detected by the precipitation reaction by polyethylene glycol. Macroprolactinemia should be suspected in the pre...

*These authors contributed equally to this work.BackgroundRegular physical activity has a crucial role in the control of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Insecurity in the management of insulin therapy and fear for dysglycemia are barriers to the practice of exercise in T1D.AimTo identify barriers to regular physical activity in adult patients with T1D; to evaluate the impact of two ed...

Background: Nivolumab is a monoclonal antibody specific for human PD-1 (programmed cell death protein-1), a checkpoint molecule highly expressed in several cancers. Nivolumab is an immunotherapeutic strategy for human cancer, but it can interfere with endocrine system.Case reports: We report four cases regarding nivolumab-associated endocrinopathies: (i) Male, 55-year-old, with previous normal cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels, treat...

Background: The key physiologic defences against hypoglycaemia are the decrease in insulin and the increased secretion of glucose counterregulatory hormones, namely glucagon and epinephrine. The absence of warning signs of impending neuroglycopenia is known as hypoglycaemic unawareness.Case report: Male, 26 year-old, without relevant medical history and with normal body mass index, presented with hypertension, palpitations and diaphoresis. Clinical suspi...