Endocrine Abstracts

Topical application of corticosteroids is frequently used in the therapy of various dermatological diseases due to their antiinflammatory and immunsuppressive effects. Systemic pharmacological levels of glucocorticoids lead, on the other hand, to Cushing syndrome, i.e. significant modifications of intermediary metabolism, body composition, bone mass, haematolymphopoietic system and, last but not least, to skin modifications: purple striae, petechiae, infections. We describe a ...

Aside its growth promoting effects, growth hormone (GH) displays other actions upon carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolisms, and possibly also direct central nervous system effects. Fourteen adult pituitary dwarves (mean height of 132.3±8 cm, mean age of 30.7±9.6 y), 5 women and 9 men, never having received rGH therapy, were investigated. Body composition (BC) was assessed by bioelectrical impedance, and bone mineral density (BMD) was evaluated by quantitative ul...

Introduction: Thyroid nodules are commonly encountered in clinical practice, the main diagnostic problem being the benign or malignant nature of the nodules. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is a standard diagnostic test for evaluating thyroid nodules. Several studies have showed that the use of ultrasound guidance (US-FNAB) improves the diagnostic accuracy of aspiration biopsies in comparison with palpation guidance (P-FNAB) alone.Patients and metho...

Introduction: High-resolution ultrasound (US) allows the location of large parathyroid adenomas. These tumours should be however differentiated from thyroid nodules. For the confirmation of the parathyroid adenoma, we propose US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of suspected nodules, with additional parathyroid hormone (PTH) analysis in the washout of the aspirate (PTH-FNA).Case report: A 51-year old woman with recently installed menopause and ...

Introduction: Graves’ disease (GD) has been related to a higher incidence of thyroid cancer. Thyroid nodules found in GD seem to have a higher risk for malignancy. The prognosis of thyroid cancer may be aggravated by the association with GD.Case report: We present the case of N.I, a 56-year-old woman diagnosed with multinodular goitre and overt hyperthyroidism for which therapy with carbimazole 40 mg/day was started. She was referred to our Endocrin...

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are substances, both natural and artificial to which we are all exposed, even in a low dose in our everyday life. Health effects attributed to endocrine disrupting compounds include immune dysfunctions, various cancers, neurological effects and behaviour disorders, reproductive problems, early puberty, etc. Over the past 50 years, an increase in urogenital tract abnormalities in males has been noted. We present a 4 year old boy case report, born ...

Introduction: Idiopathic hypercalciuria is a risk factor for nephrolithiasis. Both renal stones and hypercalciuria are often associated with lower bone mineral density (BMD), but the relationship between these modifications is not completely understood. We aimed to evaluate some metabolic particularities possibly related to relapsing nephrolithiasis in young male patients.Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study including a group of 30 young male pa...

Body weight is positively correlated to bone mass. While gravity represents a stimulation stress for bone turnover, endocrine function of adipocytes may also influence bone.Objectives: We investigated the relative influence of weight, body composition and leptin upon lumbar bone mass in pre and postmenopausal women.Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study including six groups varying from 8 to 15 pre- / postmenopausal healthy v...

We present the case of a 75-year-old woman with a 10-year history of nephrolithiasis, for which she endured several sessions of extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL). She was directed to the Endocrinology unit for further investigations, due to persistent albeit minor increased values of blood calcium (10.48 mg/dl, normal 8.4–10.2 mg/dl). Here, the clinical supposition of primary hyperparathyroidism was confirmed. The tests revealed a mild hypercalcemia with hypopho...

Introduction: Uric acid may increase cardiovascular risk, exerting proinflammatory, pro-oxidant and proliferative actions at the endothelial cell level. Classic and non-classic cardiovascular risk markers cluster in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), uric acid being proposed as one of them. The studies available at present regarding serum uric acid levels in PCOS patients are scarce and controversial. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between uric ...