Endocrine Abstracts

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...

Introduction: High-resolution US and US FNA are techniques of great relevance in the evaluation of thyroid nodules. They are being used much more often by endocrinologists all over the world. In our Endocrinology Department, we started them in 2006; since then they have been progressively amplified. We present our results of US FNA performed from January 2007 until December 2009.Patients and methods: Two thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven FNA were ...

Introduction: Fine needle biopsy (FNB) is a very important diagnostic tool in the assessment of thyroid nodules and plays a prominent role in therapeutic approach. It has a sensitivity around 83 to 85% and a specificity around 80 to 92%.Aims: To correlate cytological (FNB) and final histopathological data in patients with nodular thyroid pathology.Methods: A retrospective study of patients who underwent surgical procedure from Janu...

Introduction: Gastric endocrine tumors (GET) are rare. Type 1 tumors are non-functioning, almost exclusively benign lesions, usually presenting as multiple polyps, usually <1 cm in diameter, which arise from gastric enterochromaffin-like cells in response to chronically elevated gastrin, secondary to (auto-immune) atrophic fundic gastritis. These tumors were traditionally treated with total gastrectomy, like adenocarcinomas. Currently, surveillance or endoscopic treatment ...

Background: Obesity is related to an increased cardiovascular risk, namely coronary heart disease risk (CHDr). Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is frequently associated with obesity and, by itself, is an important CHDr factor. Interventions that induce weight loss would be expected to attenuate CHDr in obese patients.Aims: To evaluate variation in cardiovascular risk profile one year after adjustable gastric banding (AGB), in obese patients (with and without T2D); ...

Mutations in the plasma membrane thyroid hormone (TH) transporter, MCT8, are associated with severe global neurological deficits accompanied by abnormal circulating TH levels. We have previously shown that MCT8 over-expression in human neuronal precursor cells (NT2) increases cellular T3 uptake and reduces proliferation.Objectives: To quantify and localise the expression of MCT8 in human fetal CNS and to investigate the role of MCT8 in NT2 neurodifferent...

Introduction: Pituitary adenomas are the most common cause of sellar masses from the third decade on, accounting for up to 10 percent of all intracraneal neoplasms.Objective: To review pituitary adenomas diagnosed in Burgos.Patients and methods: It was a retrospective study in which we reviewed a total of 90 pituitary adenomas detected in Burgos from 1983 to our days.Results: About 65% were macroadenomas and ...

The importance of thyroid hormone (TH) transporters to central nervous system (CNS) development has been highlighted by reports of severe global neurological impairment associated with mutations in the potent TH transporter, MCT8. Even subclinical maternal hypothyroidism in early pregnancy has been associated with long-term neurodevelopmental delay in the offspring suggesting that TH is crucial for early fetal brain development. The cellular entry of TH requires the function o...

The hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumour (HPT-JT) syndrome is an autosomal dominant disease characterised by the occurrence of parathyroid tumours, which are often carcinomas, and fibro-osseous tumours of the jaw bones. The HPT-JT gene is on chromosome 1q25 and consists of 17 exons that encode a 531 amino-acid protein, designated PARAFIBROMIN (Nature Genetics, in press). Thirteen heterozygous germline mutations that result in truncated or inactivated forms of PARAFIBROMIN have been ...

Background: Fungal infections are a rare cause of primary adrenal insufficiency, raising difficulties in the diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.Case report: A 56 years old diabetic male, who lived in Guinea in 1968, was referred to our inpatients clinic because of a 7,7x3 cm adrenal incidentaloma. He presented with hyperpigmentation, postural symptoms, weakness, fatigue, anorexia and weight loss.The rapid ACTH stimulation test h...