Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: WHO classification of endocrine tumors defines pheochromocytoma as a tumor arising from chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla. Almost all pheochromocytomas produce catecholamines. An annual incidence of this tumor in the general population is estimated at 3–8 cases/million/year. 40–50% of patients with pheochromocytoma are characterized by sustained hypertension, a similar percentage – only by paroxysmal hypertension and up to 10% are normotensiv...

Introduction: ACTH-secreting macroadenomas account for about 4–10% of Cushing’s disease and are often resistant to surgical treatment and radiotherapy. The aim of the study was to present diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties in a case of cyclic recurrent ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome due to atypical pituitary adenoma.Case report: 50-year-old man with visceral obesity was referred to hospital because of poor control of diabetes and h...

Introduction: Horner’s syndrome represents a clinical symptom that may result from a variety of lesions both in the central and peripheral nervous system. It is a combination of ipsilateral ptosis, pupillary miosis and anisocoria, enophthalmos and facial anhydrosis induced by disruption of the sympathetic innervation of the eye anywhere along its three-neuron trail. Tumors are the most frequent causes of Horner’s syndrome.Aim: Aim of the study ...

Introduction: Increased production of vasopressin plays a key role in the development of fluid retention and hyponatremia in patients with decompensated heart failure. Antidiuretic hormone deficiency in the course of diabetes insipidus leads to the loss of water, dehydration and hypernatremia. The aim of the study was to present difficulties in successful treatment of hyponatremia in a patient with cardiomyopathy and heart failure, receiving desmopressin because of postoperati...

Introduction: The enlarged pituitary gland of pregnancy is susceptible to any compromise to its blood supply. Sheehan’s syndrome (SS) occurs as a result of post-partum pituitary infarction or haemorrhage and usually leads to hypopituitarism. It can be fatal but clinical manifestations may change from one patient to another and symptoms may not occur for many years.Methods: We analysed retrospectively five cases of women with SS aged 26&#150...

Introduction: Bilateral adrenalectomy (BA) is rarely applied as a therapeutic procedure. It serves as a life-saving treatment in patients with persistent Cushing’s disease after an ineffective pituitary surgery or in ectopic ACTH production. Other indications for BA are: bilateral adrenocortical adenomas, congenital adrenal hyperplasia and bilateral phaeochromocytoma in patients with hereditary paraganglioma-phaeochromocytoma (PPS/PGL) syndromes. It is also a procedure of...

Introduction: Hyponatremia occurs in 33–69% of women with postpartum pituitary necrosis. The aim of the study was to present a patient in whom recurrent hyponatremia was one of the dominant symptoms of postpartum anterior pituitary hormones deficiency.A case report: 55-year-old woman with a diagnosis of Sheehan syndrome established 19 years after the last labor complicated by massive bleeding due to uterine atonia. The first symptoms of pituitary in...

Introduction: Neurohormonal diabetes insipidus (DI) is a rare disorder caused by partial or total vasopressin deficiency which results in diluted urine characterized by polyuria and polydipsia. In 30–50% of the cases the cause of the disease is unknown; it is the so-called idiopathic diabetes insipidus. Other causes include: tumors of the CNS most commonly craniopharyngioma, pituitary macroadenomas, central nervous system trauma, inflammatory state of hypothalamus or pitu...

Introduction: Autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type 2 (APS type 2) is co-occurrence of primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison disease) and autoimmune thyroid disease – most commonly Hashimoto thyroiditis (Schmidt syndrome). If it is associated with type 1 diabetes mellitus it is known as Carpenter syndrome. We present clinical pictures of two 33-year-old patients (born in 1980) diagnosed with APS type 2 manifested as Carpenter syndrome to emphasize different courses of t...

Introduction: The severe course of hyperandrogenism during the menopausal transition requires the exclusion of androgen-secreting tumors.Case report: A 60-year-old postmenopausal woman was referred to the Department of Endocrinology with a 3-year history of progressive development of hyperandrogenism with virilization (severe hirsutism, frontal balding, deepening of voice, increased muscle mass, and secondary polycythemia).Hormonal...