Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Cushing’s disease (CD) is characterized by increased secretion of ACTH often as a result of a pituitary adenoma. The surgical success rates after transsphenoidal pituitary surgery (TSS) range from 53 to 96% in different centres. Postoperative cortisol levels have been proposed as the standard criteria for prediction of surgical remission however, this variable is subject of a variety of interferences.Objectives: Evaluate the potential ...

Introduction: Factitious hypoglycemia results from surreptitious administration of insulin or insulin secretagogues. It can involve non-diabetic individuals with knowledge of hypoglycemiant drugs, or diabetics manipulating the doses.Clinical case: A 42-year-old women, type 1 diabetic since the age of 14, on intensive insulin therapy (A1C: 8.5%), was hospitalized for study of recurrent severe hypoglycemia in the last 2 months, despite successive insulin d...

Introduction: Methimazole is the thionamide compound most used in the treatment of hyperthyroidism due to its efficacy, commodity and security. Severe side effects are rare, although potentially fatal: agranulocytosis in 0.1–0.5% and toxic hepatitis in 0.1%Aims: To characterize the patients admitted in the endocrinology ward for the last 10 years for severe complications of methimazole therapy.Material and Methods: Retrospecti...

Introduction: Germline mutations in tumour suppressor gene PTEN cause heterogeneous phenotypes, that comprise the spectrum of PTEN-hamartoma tumour syndrome (PHTS). Manifestations include macrocephaly, developmental delay, cutaneous lesions, intestinal polyposis and increased risk of neoplasms. Thyroid nodules are identified in about 75% of patients and follicular cell-derived cancer affects 35% of cases, some of which diagnosed as early as 7 years old.C...

Introduction: Pituitary tumors can be classified according to their endocrine function, starting from the clinical phenotype to establish a diagnosis. The histological analysis can confirm the clinical suspicion. A thorough classification is essential in the therapeutic approach with an important influence in the disease-free survival.Case report: We report a case of a 16-year-old male, with loss of visual acuity and headache, attended by an Ophthalmolog...

Introduction: Cushing’s disease (CD) is a Grave disease that requires a multidisciplinary and individualized treatment approach.Case report: We describe the case of a 31-years old female patient with Cushing disease diagnosed in 2007. She initially complained of weight fluctuations, amenorrheia, rounded face with plethora and acne, for 1 year duration. Analytically: 0800 h plasma cortisol of 14 μg/dl (5–25) and 2300 h 15 μg/dl, ACTH 1...

Introduction: Radiation therapy is an effective treatment for relapsing or recurrent pituitary functioning adenomas, providing tumor volume control and hormone secretion normalization. However, there are several secondary effects to consider.Aims: To assess the efficacy of radiotherapy in the management of patients with acromegaly and Cushing’s disease (CD) treated in our Department, and the prevalence of radiation secondary effects.<p class="ab...

Background: Pituitary apoplexy occurs when a tumor undergoes acute hemorrhage, infarct, or both. This often leads to acute severe symptoms (clinical) but can also occur without them and diagnosed on CT/MRI, surgery, pathology (subclinical). To investigate clinical and subclinical apoplexy in nonfunctioning tumors (n=221) from our database.Design: Retrospective review of clinical presentation, tumor characteristics and outcome of 24 patients, 11 fe...

Pituitary carcinoma is rare (0.1–0.2% of pituitary tumors), with a poor prognosis. It usually presents as invasive and secretory (ACTH or prolactin) macroadenoma. The diagnosis is confirmed by the presence of metastases. The latency period between the diagnosis of adenoma and carcinoma is variable (9.5 years for corticotrophinoma). The treatment includes surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.We report a 58-year-old male, complaining of visual distu...

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is considered a rare cause of pituitary dysfunction. Recently, some retrospective studies demonstrated that TBI-mediated hypopituitarism is more frequent than previously known. However, its prevalence and natural history are still unclear.Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of hypopituitarism 1 year after TBI and the association between the seriousness of the traumatism and the pituitary deficits.<p class...