Endocrine Abstracts

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a potent inhibitor of osteoclastic bone resorption. Besides osteoblasts, OPG is expressed by both endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells. Moreover, elevated serum OPG has been found in conditions associated with insulin resistance such as obesity, diabetes and/or Cushing syndrome.The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between serum OPG and insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome ...

McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS) is a rare mosaic disorder caused by a postzygotic activating mutation in the GNAS gene encoding the G protein alpha subunit. Although clinical manifestations may be heterogeneous, MAS is often characterized by the triad of fibrous dysplasia, café-au-lait skin pigmentations and hyperfunctioning endocrinopathy. We report here a 58-year old woman who presented for evaluation of hyperthyroidism, associated with nodular thyroid disease and elevat...

Objectives: Patients suffering from pulmonary or/and neoplastic disease are at higher risk of developing serious illness from SARS-CoV-2. TC patients with lung metastases are classified as high-risk for severe CoV-2 disease. Aim of this study was to investigate SARS-CoV-2 prevalence and severity in this particular subgroup of patients.Methods: Out of 28 patients with metastatic Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (DTC) and 21 patients with met...

Introduction: An insulinoma is a neuroendocrine tumor, deriving mainly from pancreatic islet cells, that constantly produces insulin even when blood sugar is very low. Insulinomas are the most common cause of hypoglycemia resulting from endogenous hyperinsulinism. Biochemical diagnosis of insulinoma is established during prolonged fasting test (up to 72 hours) in 95 % of patients, 90-95% of insulinomas can be diagnosed during 48 hours of prolonged fasting. After biochemical co...

Pseudohypercalcaemia is defined as an elevated total calcium level coincidental with a normal ionised calcium level. This rare phenomenon occurs in monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS). We report two cases of MGUS and a case of atopy with grossly elevated IgE levels exhibiting the phenomenon.Case 1: 31 year old female with MGUS, hypercalcaemia and normal parathyroid (PTH) levels. Parathyroid imaging normal. Consensus diagnosis of primary ...

Objectives: Coexistence of two different malignancies is frequently reported. Sometimes occurs in the context of well-established syndromes like MEN2. Rearranged during transfection (RET), is an oncogenic driver activated in different kinds of neoplasias such as: MTC, Differentiated Thyroid Cancer (DTC), Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC). We have previously reported an increased prevalence of DTC in familial MTC patients carrying the RET (G533C) mutation. Ai...

Background: MTC tends to metastasize early in the course of the disease affecting usually regional lymph nodes; in 7–23% of patients distant metastases may be present at diagnosis (common metastatic sites:liver, lungs, bone). We present two MTC cases with unusual metastases to the breast, pancreas and mandible.Case presentation: Patient No 1: a 48-year-old female was diagnosed with MTC in 1990. Total thyroidectomy was performed followed by neck diss...

Objectives: DTC has a favorable clinical course. A small percentage of patients undergoing surgery and RAI ablation may have local disease persistence and further therapeutic interventions may be needed such as further RAI administration following or not a second surgery. We investigated whether additional therapeutic interventions may be beneficial for the clinical course in DTC patients with disease persistence.Methods: 812 DTC patients (men 25.7%, age...

Herein, we report currently a 39-year old male with a 13-year history of asymptomatic hypercalcemia (mean 2.88 mmol/l; reference range 2.15–2.55 mmol/l) and mildly elevated parathyroid hormone (mean 68.7 ng/l; reference range 15–65 ng/l). Initially, in years 2007–2010 his laboratory picture was compatible with the diagnosis of Familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH) with calcium-to-creatinine clearance ratio (Ca/Cr) between 0.008–0.009.Genetic testin...

Background: Woman with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) are at risk of developingmetabolic syndrome (MetS), insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease. Atherogenic dyslipidemia occurs in > 70% of women with PCOS which includes high fasting plasma TG, LDL-C, non-HDL-C or ApoB, and low HDL-C. In addition to diet and lifestyle as the first-line intervention, metformin is commonly prescribed for impaired glucose sensitivity. However, metform...