Endocrine Abstracts

Macroprolactin interference is a common problem in the interpretation of immunoassays for prolactin. Identifying macroprolactinemia can prevent errors in diagnosis and subsequent delivery of treatment to patients. The search for macroprolactin through polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation followed by percentage recovery is the most common used method in clinical laboratories. This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of macroprolactin assessment in hyperprolactinemic s...

Introduction: Postpartum infarction of the anterior pituitary, known as Sheehan’s syndrome, is a rare cause of hypopituitarism. In many cases, the hormones deficiency is sequential which implies late diagnoses.Case Report 1: A 51-year-old woman was observed because her mother had medullary thyroid carcinoma. She had no evidence of endocrine neoplasia. Nevertheless, she was experiencing fatigue, hair loss and dry skin for several months. Her history ...

Graves’ disease is characterized by the occurrence of antibodies against thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor that stimulate the gland to produce T4 and T3. It can be accompanied by an infiltrative orbitopathy and oftalmopathy. Another seldom- regognized feature of this disease is thymic hyperplasia.The authors report the case of a 22-year-old woman with Graves’ disease (TSH receptor antibodies 178 U/l) with exuberant oftalmopathy and an ...

Introduction: Aggressive pituitary tumours are rare (<2% of pituitary macroadenomas) and are characterized by local invasiveness, progressive growth, and multiple recurrences despite conventional treatments. Approximately 30-40% of these tumours are functioning corticotroph adenomas. Diagnosis relies on clinical, imaging evaluation with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), hormonal, and pathological assessments. Its therapeutic approach is challenging.C...

Introduction: Ophthalmopathy is the most common extrathyroidal manifestation of Grave’s disease, with 3–7% evolving to Dysthyroid Optic Neuropathy (DON), which requires urgent treatment to avoid permanent or progressive visual loss. We describe two cases of DON evaluated at Endocrinology and Metabolism Service of Paraná (SEMPR).Case 1: Male, 70 years old, previously diagnosed with hypertension, type 2 diabetes with insulin use, microvascul...

Introduction: First described in 2009, IgG4-related thyroid disease includes several subcategories: Riedel’s thyroiditis, fibrous variant of Hashimoto thyroiditis (FVHT), IgG4-related Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) and Graves’ disease with elevated IgG4. It is rare, with most cases described in Japan and characterized by increased IgG4 plasma cells at immunostaining.Case Report: A 59-year-old Caucasian women, without known Asian ancestry, was obser...

Introduction: The prevalence of pituitary thyrotropin secreting tumors (TSH-omas) is 1-2 cases per million inhabitants, most of them being macroadenomas. The differential diagnosis may be challenging, especially for microadenomas.Case Report: A 50-year-old male was observed at the endocrinology department with multinodular goiter. He noticed progressive neck enlargement over the previous months but denied other complaints. There was no family history of ...

A rapidly growing neoplastic mass of the neck can either be caused by an anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC) or a primitive lymphoma of the thyroid gland (PLT). These two malignancies share the same clinical features but vary widely in their treatment and outcome. Only histologic criteria through biopsy can provide a definitive diagnosis. The aim of this study was to assess biological and radiological differences between ATC and PLT in order to hasten differential diagnosis. Sixty...

Introduction: Many endocrinopathies such as acromegaly, Cushing’s syndrome (CS), pheomochromocytom and lipodystrophia can be associated with insülin resistance and unregulated diabetes mellitus (DM).Case report: A 37 –year- and 2 months pregnant women admitted to our out patient clinic for regulation of hyperglycemia. On physical examination; Blood Pressure: 140/95 mmHg, Body Mass Index: 31 kg/m2, central obesity, acanthosis nig...

The measurement of androgens is critical for the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) but it has been difficult based on poor specificity and sensitivity of assays in the female range. The direct total androgen activity can be measured with dihydrotestosterone equivalent concentration (DEQ) using chemically activated luciferase gene expression (CALUX) bioassays. The aim of the study is to determine whether DEQ levels can be the index for hyperandrogenemia to be requir...