Endocrine Abstracts

Acromegaly is a rare disease that leads to considerable morbidity and mortality, both reversible by adequate control of the disease. However, patients that could be adequately controlled confront delays in achieving treatment targets. The aim of the present study was to estimate the time to disease control after diagnosis and the reason leading to control delays. We retrospectively studied 119 acromegalic patients (aged 46.4±12.5; 71 females). Following appropriate treatm...

Introduction: The interplay of cortisol (F) and adipose tissue is complex and in many aspects is still obscure. Plasma F has been shown to be positively associated with lipolysis.Aim: To study in adipose tissue indices of lipolysis vs tissue F with microdialysis (MD).Subjects and methods: We studied 46 mechanically ventilated patients with a diagnosis of septic/non-septic shock, systemic inflammatory response syndrome or s...

Generously supported by IPSEN)-->Endogenous hypercortisolism leads to increased morbidity and mortality. As Cushing’s disease (CD) is a rare disorder, data on co-morbidities outcome after current treatment interventions are scarce.We studied 78 patients with CD (67 females, 11 males, mean age 42.2±1.4 years), with a follow up of 90.8±7.8 months. All patients underwent transsphenoidal surgery (TSS...

Several alterations of the metabolic processes develop during sepsis. Adiponectin and resistin are amongst the main adipokines that may contribute to the metabolic adaptations observed in the context of critical illness. However, there is scarce data on the circulating pattern of these adipokines in human sepsis. Therefore we aimed to describe the variation in circulating levels of resistin and adiponectin during the course of sepsis and examine whether they are related to the...

Aberrant hormone receptors have been demonstrated in macronodular adrenal hyperplasia or, rarely, unilateral adenomas causing Cushing’s syndrome but their prevalence in adrenal incidentalomas (AI) remains uncertain. Therefore we evaluated patients with bilateral AI for evidence of abnormal response to physiological stimuli. We also compared their biochemical characteristics with those of patients with unilateral AI.Assessment of adrenal function was...

Although bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS) is the most accurate procedure for the differential diagnosis of ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome, a false-negative rate of 4–15% has been reported. An even lower sensitivity has been shown in patients with equivocal responses to CRH and/or high-dose dexamethasone suppression test (HDST). In the present study we investigated whether the administration of CRH plus desmopressin (DDAVP) during BIPPS, which is ...

A 61-year-old woman was admitted to the Emergency Department with generalized seizures. She reported general malaise, anorexia, headache and multiple episodes of vomiting that started about 12 h before admission. She had a history of recent thyroidectomy, and she was on oral calcium carbonate (3 gr/day) and alpha calcidol (3 mg/day). Non-contrast head CT scan was negative for major findings. Laboratory work up revealed hypercalcemia (corrected calcium 14,4 mg/dl), renal impair...

Purpose: Growth Hormone (GH) and Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-I) are currently the principal biomarkers used to assess disease activity in acromegaly and any discrepancy between them renders interpretation of results inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of discrepant results and identify parameters that might affect the emergence of this phenomenon.Methods: A systematic review of Medline and Scopus was performed (1987&...

Introduction: Cushing’s disease (CD) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality due to cerebro-cardiovascular, thrombotic or infectious complications. However, there is significant variation in the clinical presentation and consequences of hypercortisolism, resulting in a wide clinical spectrum, ranging from mild to severe or even life-threatening disease requiring immediate treatment.Aim: The description of patients with severe CD in c...

Radioiodine treatment is the cornerstone of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) management. A number of thyroid cancers, however, become radioiodine-refractory (RAIR) and these represent about 60% of advanced DTCs and are responsible for the vast majority of DTC mortality. RAIR DTC has limited therapeutic options, mainly tyrosine kinase inhibitors that are associated with moderate efficacy and considerable toxicity. Reinducing NIS expression (redifferentiation) with the aim of...