Endocrine Abstracts

Background: One in four children in England are now obese by school year 6. Childhood obesity is associated with significant co-morbidity including type 2 diabetes (T2DM), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and depression. NICE guidance suggests consideration of co-morbidity screening in children with body mass index (BMI) >98th centile but BMI does not accurately reflect adiposity in children owing to confounding effects of gender, h...

Introduction: Dopamine agonists (DA) are first-line treatment for prolactinomas and effectively control hyperprolactinemia in most patients. However, side effects may negatively impact health-related quality of life; and post-withdrawal remission rates are low, resulting in prolonged DA treatment.Methods: Dutch multicenter prospective observational cohort study mapping standard care for 316 prolactinoma patients. Baseline clinical characteristics and tre...

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignant tumour of the adrenal cortex with an incidence of 0.7-2.0 per million per year. The majority are steroid-producing with non-ACTH dependent hypercortisolism the most frequent biochemical abnormality. Around 10-15% of cases are picked up incidentally on abdominal imaging. Management of ACC during the covid-19 pandemic poses specific challenges. We present the case of a 69-year-old man who was found to have a massive ...

Thyroid hormone levels are strongly affected by inflammation. In a wide spectrum of diseases, ranging from critical illness in the ICU to ischemic stroke, a decrease in circulating T3 and T4 is observed without the expected increase in TSH. This disruption of the negative feedback system of the hypothalamic–pituitary–thyroid (HPT) axis is accompanied by various changes in thyroid hormone metabolism at the cellular and tissue level. C...

Context: A lingual thyroid is a relatively rare clinical entity. It is the most common subtype of ectopic thyroid. An ectopic thyroid is caused by an aberrant descent of the thyroid gland from the foramen caecum to its normal pretracheal position during embryogenesis. A lingual thyroid is located at the midline of the tongue base. It can be asymptomatic, but it may also cause dysphagia, upper airway obstruction, haemorrhage or dysphonia. Moreover, about 70% of patients with li...

A 41-year-old woman presented with a puffy face since five months. She experienced alopecia, hirsutism, easy bruisability, amenorrhea and proximal muscle weakness. Clinical examination revealed a moonface, centripetal obesity, proximal muscle atrophy, thinned scalp hair, hyperpigmentation in sun-exposed neck region, ecchymosis and arterial hypertension grade 1. Blood analysis showed elevated morning cortisol, elevated morning ACTH of 66.1 pg/ml (normal 10–60), hypokalemic...

Introduction: Most cases of prepubertal gynecomastia are classified as idiopathic. However, an exogenous or endogenous hyperestrogenism (from estrogen producing testis or adrenal tumors) has always to be excluded. Other rare underlying endocrine causes are congenital adrenal hyperplasia, aromatase excess, hyperthyroidism and hyperprolactinemia1,2.We report a transient hyperprolactinemia, beside other ignored clinical and hormonal signs of estr...

A 41-year-old woman presented with a puffy face since five months. She experienced alopecia, hirsutism, easy bruisability, amenorrhea and proximal muscle weakness. Clinical examination revealed a moonface, centripetal obesity, proximal muscle atrophy, thinned scalp hair, hyperpigmentation in sun-exposed neck region, ecchymosis and arterial hypertension grade 1. Blood analysis showed elevated morning cortisol, elevated morning ACTH of 66.1 pg/ml (normal 10–60), hypokalemic...

Background: Recently, GATA transcription factors have been linked to the development of Testicular Adrenal Rest Tumours (TART), benign adrenal-like testicular tumours that frequently occur in male patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). The objective of this study is to determine GATA expression in TART and other steroidogenic tissues, examining their discriminative potential and their possible role in the aetiology of TART.Methods: GATA1-6 e...

Background: Thyroid cancer incidence is increasing, especially the cancers ≤1 cm (T1a). Previous evidence suggests underuse of FNA. Several international guidelines for the management of thyroid cancer have been published. Especially the year 2006 was a hallmark, with the publication of both the ETA consensus and ATA guidelines.Aim: Compare thyroid cancer subtypes and management before and after 2006.Methodology: Retrospectiv...