Endocrine Abstracts

Active acromegaly is associated with significant comorbidity and reduced quality of life. Cross-sectional studies have shown that quality of life did not significantly change in long-term cured acromegalic patients. However, the effect of medical treatment on the quality of life in the short term is unknown.We evaluated the quality of life by a disease-specific questionnaire in a longitudinal study before and after a 6-month course with somatostatin anal...

Context: Amiodarone is a widely used anti-arrhythmic medication, however associated with a 15-20% rate of thyroid adverse effects. Amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) is a complex disease due to diagnostic difficulties and therapeutic challenges. AIT patients often receive initial therapy for thyrotoxicosis before admission to a referral center. Whether the first-line medical therapy (i.e. therapies for thyrotoxicosis at first diagnosis of AIT) may affect the outcome of AI...

Context: Therapy with somatostatin analogues (SSAs) may have deleterious effects on glucose metabolism in patients with acromegaly, often leading to development of diabetes mellitus (DM).Aim of the study: To evaluate whether DM, which developed during therapy with SSAs, may revert after drug withdrawal and cure of acromegaly with pituitary adenomectomy.Design: Retrospective cohort study, in a tertiary referral center.<p class="...

Four patients with autoimmune hypophysitis were followed since the diagnosis of the disease. All presented with severe headache, decreased libido, astenia. Case 1 and 3 presented polyuria and polydipsia. At MRI pituitary was enlarged, with high gadolinum uptake and stalk enlargement.Case 1, male 41 years. MRI volume: AP 13 mm, CC 7 mm. Hormonal assessment: central hypothyroidism, hypoadrenalism, hypogonadism, normal GH and IGF1, hyperprolactinemia, centr...

Background: Pasireotide is a multi-ligand somatostatin analogue licensed in a long-acting release formulation (PAS-LAR) for the treatment of acromegaly. The real-life reports with PAS-LAR are still scanty.Objectives: To assess the efficacy and safety of PAS-LAR in patients with acromegaly.Patients and methods: Prospective observational multi-centre study enrolling acromegalics evaluated before (baseline) and 1, 6, 12, 24, and 36 mo...

To investigate the blood pressure profile (BP) in active acromegaly and the effect of medical treatment of acromegaly on BP circadian rhythm, we studied 21 acromegalics before and after 3–60 months of treatment with somatostatin analogs (15/21) or pegvisomant (5/21) or both (5/21). Ambulatory 24-h BP was recorded. The 24-h mean BP (MBP), the mean systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP), the day-time (day) and night-time (night) MBP, SBP and DBP and the 24-h mean heart ra...

Introduction: Acromegaly is associated with alterations of glucose metabolism. The effect of somatostatin analogues (SMS) and pegvisomant (PEG) on glucose metabolism is still argument of debate.Study design: The purpose of this historical-prospective study was to compare, in a cohort of 47 patients with active acromegaly, the effects of SMS and PEG alone or in combination on glucose metabolism. All subjects were evaluated at baseline and at least 6 month...

Hyperinsulinemia has been associated to an increased risk of colorectal cancer and adenomas, while higher serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 and folate seem to reduce the development of colonic lesions in general population. Acromegalic patients have an increased risk of colonic tumors and an association between higher fasting insulin levels and risk of colonic adenomas has been previously demonstrated. No data are available about the influence of vitamin D and folate-homocysteine le...

Patients with active Cushing’s syndrome (CS) have an increased coagulability and thrombotic tendency. High glucocorticoids concentrations increase plasma clotting factors, especially von Willebrand factor (vWf) and reduced fibrinolytic capacity. Thromboemobolic complications, mainly in the postsurgical phase, have been reported.Aim of this longitudinal study was to evaluate haemostatic and fibrinolytic markers in patients with active Cushing’s ...

Current therapies for acromegaly are unsatisfactory for some patients. High dose thiazoledinedines have been reported to shrink tumor size and reduce serum GH levels in animal models of acromegaly. To study the effects of increasing doses of rosiglitazone on serum GH and IGF1 concentrations in acromegalic patients, we designed a phase two clinical trial. We enrolled five consecutive patients with active acromegaly uncontrolled under conventional therapies. They received increa...