Endocrine Abstracts

Before and during pregnancy the thyroid gland and gonadal axes interact continuously. During reproductive life, normal levels of thyroid hormones are required for the maturation of oocytes. Hypothyroidism influences ovarian function by decreasing levels of sex-hormone-binding globulin and increasing the secretion of prolactin. In women of reproductive age, L-thyroxine therapy reverses hypothyroidism improving fertility and avoiding the need for use of assisted r...

IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a fibro-inflammatory, immune-mediated, systemic disease usually presenting with tumefactive lesions and a subacute onset mimicking malignancy. A subset of autoimmune thyroid pathologic conditions can be incorporated in the spectrum of IgG4-RD. In some cases of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (HT) a rich IgG4-positive plasma cell infiltration has been described, and a marked storiform fibrosis is typical of the fibrotic variant of HT (FVHT) and of...

Thyroid dysfunction affects a considerable number of elderly subjects. However the role of screening and treatment of thyroid disorders in geriatric population is still debated. The aim of this study was the evaluation of the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and its impact on comorbidity and comedication.Two independent populations were evaluated: 2001 residents in 21 federated nursing homes in the province of Pavia (Northern Italy), age >60 y, and ...

In elderly subjects the mortality rate after hip fractures ranges from 18 to 33% within one year; among survivors, 40% did not return to the previous level of functional ability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal changes of some markers of bone metabolism in relation to functional and nutritional status.Thirthy-seven subjects aged more 70y with a new vertebral or hip fracture were admitted to the study. Thirthy age-matched and not fr...

Sweet syndrome is a febrile dermatosis characterized by painful light red patches of quite different size involving various skin zones associated with flu like symptoms, arthralgias and rarely frank arthritis. Originally considered rare, over 500 cases in the past 10 years have been described. The etiology of Sweet’s syndrome is unknown, but a type of hypersensitivity reaction leading to stimulation of a cascade of cytokines has been strongly suggested. In very few cases ...

Background: Graves’ disease (GD) female patients in remission after a full course of methimazole (MMI) therapy are at risk for a relapse of hyperthyroidism during the post-partum (PP) period, but whether this relapse may display any peculiarity is still unknown.Aim: To compare GD patients undergoing a relapse of hyperthyroidism either in the PP period or not.Subjects and methods: Fourty-three female patients of childbearing ag...

Antipituitary antibodies (APA) are frequently present in patients with autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome (APS) but their role in predicting autoimmune hypophysitis (LYH) is still discussed.To evaluate the predictive value of APA investigated by immunofluorescence for the occurrence of pituitary autoimmune dysfunction when considering together some methodological characteristics as immunostaining pattern and antibody titers, we studied 149 APA positive an...

Subacute thyroiditis (SAT) is a relatively uncommon and self-limited cause of thyrotoxicosis of viral or post-viral origin. During the COVID-19 pandemic a thyroid impact was also considered due to the potential of SARS-CoV-2 virus to cause multiorgan effects. Several SAT cases associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination were recently reported in the literature. We present the case of a 52-year-old female who presented with neck pain, fever, asthenia, and malaise for ap...