Endocrine Abstracts

Autoimmune destruction of the adrenocortical cells is the most frequent form of Addi-son’s disease, however modern imaging methods make possible to discover bilateral neoplastic laesions resulting in adrenal insufficiency more frequently than about twenty years ago. In our group of 315 patients with Addison’s disease we diagnosed metastatic infiltrations of the adrenals in 18 cases and lymphoma of both adrenals in four cases (in sum 7%). Typical clinical signs, bioch...

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphate (DHEAS) are weak adrenal androgens, which may exert anabolic effect on bone tissue.We have measured serum DHEAS levels and bone mineral density in lumbar spine and femoral neck in 131 healthy, agile, postmenopausal women aged 59–89. There were no diseases which aggravate bone loss and no hormonal replacement therapy in medical history of participants.Women were divided into groups...

Background: TSH-secreting tumors appears as extremely rare cause of hyperthyroidism. Major clinical feature is preserved TSH level in subjects with apparent thyrotoxicosis. Misdiagnosis of primary thyroid hyper function led to mistreatment with anti-thyroid agents. This worsens disease course and outcome. Neurosurgery success rate is limited by large tumor size and extrasellular expansion. Somatostatin plays key role in regulation of TSH secretion. Tumors in most cases express...

Cushing’s syndrome is associated with life-threatening complications, as well as high rates of perioperative mortality and morbidity. Authors present clinical scenarios, in which one should consider the usage of intravenous etomidate as an accurate, safe and effective drug for hypercortisolaemia.Case 1: 23-year-old female with severe Cushing’s syndrome due to metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma was admitted to the Department of Endocrinology. S...

Presence of clinical symptoms and signs specific for suspected illness is, in general, a condition sine qua non to start diagnostics procedures. However, some diseases may proceed with various and disparate symptoms, which often suggests completely different diagnosis. One of them is pheochromocytoma – rare, usually benign neoplasm derived from chromaffin cells of adrenal medulla. It is very important to diagnose the disease while it is curable by surgery like ma...

Background2–3% of the general population is chronically treated with glucocorticoids (GCs). Modification of the structure and/or function of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) due to its polymorphisms may result in increased (GC – S – bclI, N363S) or decreased (GC – I – A3669G, ER22/23EK) sensitivity to GCs. To date, whether such modulation of cell’s response to GCs can be associated with presence or absence of the side effect...

Patients with chronic sinusitis with polyps are prepared for surgery (FESS) in one of two ways: through intranasal steroid therapy or oral preparation. The high-dose oral glucocorticoids are not often used in Poland, because of the due to the risk of developing side effects including pituitary-adrenal axis inhibition with the need for steroid cover during surgery. The 30 patients before FESS were randomly divided into two equal-sized groups. Patients in the first group receive...

Introduction: One of the most common side effects of glucocorticoid treatment is glucose intolerance and diabetes. Although glucocorticoids cause mainly postprandial hyperglycaemia the International Diabetes Federation, American Diabetes Association and The European League Against Rheumatism recommend to screen patients chronically treated with glucocorticoids by regularly determining fasting plasma glucose. Such an approach can lead to false negative results. Since pre-diabet...

Adrenal cortex scintigraphy has been used as early as in the 1970s, however, in recent years, it has been a rarely performed and unappreciated examination. In fact, this examination does not provide a perfect view on morphology of adrenal glands, however it provides an assessment of the examined tumor’s function. The aim of this work is to present our experience with adrenal cortex scintigraphy in assessment of adrenal tumors.We present a series of ...

Objective: To determine the percentage of patients with acromegaly who received lanreotide Autogel 120 mg (ATG120) in extended duration interval and to evaluate the mean costs of ATG120 administered as part of routine care in Poland.Methods: National, multicentre, non-interventional, observational prospective study with 2-years’ time horizon. The study population consisted of adult acromegaly patients who received at least three injections of ATG120...