Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Metastatic pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) or pituitary carcinomas are rare and challenging conditions. We present a recent and encouraging observation of a temozolomide (TMZ)-resistant clinically non-functioning metastatic PitNET showing a remarkable response to the anti-PDL1 drug Pembrolizumab.Case presentation: A 57-years-old man had transsphenoidal surgery in November 2012 for a large non-functioning intra/suprasellar mass rev...

Background: Overt hypercortisolism is highly associated with venous thromboembolism. Patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) typically show an alteration of the intrinsic coagulation pathway, especially an increase in factor VIII (f-VIII), and increased levels of coagulation inhibitors (i.e., antithrombin III) as a compensatory response. Mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS) has been variably associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events and mortality compared to...

Background: Testosterone (T) is essential for bone health during all ages, helping to achieve a proper peak bone mass and, later, to maintain bone density and strength. Guidelines on management of male osteoporosis recommend testosterone replacement in young-adult hypogonadal to prevent bone loss and anti-resorbitive drugs in case of high fracture risk, but the role of T replacement therapy (TRT) alone in subjects with late onset hypogonadism is still the object of an intense ...

Introduction: Immune tumor microenvironment plays a key role in tumors’ growth and metastatic spread, while its role in the heterogeneous field of neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) remains unclear. There is evidence that tumor progression in NENs is promoted by an immunosuppressed microenvironment created by a plethora of infiltrating immune cells. Changes in circulating leukocyte and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) subpopulations can mirror the local alteration of...

Context: Significant uncertainty exists about the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonographic (US) features used to predict the risk of thyroid cancer in the pediatric population. Moreover, there are not specific indications for thyroid nodule evaluation in patients during the transition age.Objective: The meta-analysis aimed to address the following question: which thyroid nodule US features have the highest accuracy in predicting malignancy in the transiti...

Introduction: Cardiac abnormalities are common in patients with acromegaly and contribute to the increased morbidity and mortality of the disease. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the established, non-invasive gold standard for measuring morpho-functional changes of the heart. We aimed to detect cardiac alterations in patients with acromegaly through CMR and to identify potential risk factors associated with cardiac impairment.Materials and methods: T...

Background: Patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI) require long-term glucocorticoid (GC) replacement therapy and generally show an increased prevalence of bone metabolism alterations. Only few data are available on bone safety of dual-release Hydrocortisone (DR-HC) therapy.Objective: To evaluate bone metabolism in both primary AI (PAI) and secondary AI (SAI) during long-term therapy with DR-HC.Methods: We studied patients with AI...

Background: Patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) typically show an alteration in the intrinsic coagulation pathway, leading to an increased risk of venous thromboembolism. Cortisol autonomy has been variably associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events and mortality compared to patients with non-functioning adrenal adenomas (NFA), particularly in women younger than 65 years. However, dedicated studies describing coagulation status in patients with adrenal inciden...

Background: Hyperandrogenism in postmenopausal women is extremely rare and requires exclusion of malignancy.Case reports: 1. A 65-year-old woman was referred to our Department of Endocrinology for appearance of hirsutism and alopecia for about 2 years. Abdomen-pelvis CT scan showed a 2-cm lesion (45 HU) at the left adrenal gland, confirmed by MRI scan, without loss of signal intensity in opposed-phase sequences. In addition, in the right ovary, a 3-cm le...

Background: Bilateral testicular germ cell tumors (B-TCGT) are reported as rare findings (incidence 1-8%) and can be distinguish in synchronous (sB-TCGT) (recurrence within 3 months) and metachronous (mB-TCGT) (recurrence after 3 months). Risk factors of relapse are still underexplored. The aim of our study was to identify clinical, biochemical and radiological risk factors for the onset of a second tumor in a wide cohort of TGCT patients. Materials and ...