Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Acromegalic heart disease is characterized by concentric left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and impaired LV function. Speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) allows a non-invasive and reproducible study of myocardial strain, a marker of cardiac deformability and early ventricular systolic dysfunction.Objectives: The aims of the study are: 1) evaluation of STE parameters in acromegalic patients at diagnosis and during the follow-up; 2) apprai...

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is a common endocrine disease mainly caused by a single parathyroid adenoma. Although the localization of the parathyroid adenoma is not a surgical criterion for parathyroidectomy (PTX), this is known to increase the cure rate and reduce the complication rate. Neck ultrasound and MIBI-scintigraphy are the first-line techniques to detect hyperfunctioning parathyroid tissue, however, they have some limitations including the operator-dependent s...

Introduction: Hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) is a rare endocrine disease which is characterized by hypocalcaemia and undetectable or inappropriately low serum parathyroid hormone (PTH). Post-surgical HypoPT (PS-HypoPT) is the most common cause, caused by accidental parathyroid removal/injury during neck surgery. Conventional therapy with calcium and vitamin D analogues does not restore calcium homeostasis and patients with chronic PS-HypoPT complain with several complications. Fr...

Objectives: The primary objective was to study the prevalence and the risk factors of vertebral fractures (VFs) in acromegaly patients either at diagnosis of acromegaly or during the follow-up. The role of routine chest radiography for detecting VFs in acromegaly was also evaluated.Design and methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed on 60 consecutive acromegaly patients, in a tertiary referral center. The presence of VFs was firstly evaluated ...

Objective: Destructive thyroiditis is the most common endocrine immune related adverse event (iRAEs) in patients treated with anti-PD1/PD-L1 agents. Given its self-limited course, current guidelines recommend no treatment for this iRAE. Nevertheless in patients with enlarged thyroid volume and a poor performance status, thyrotoxicosis may be particularly severe and harmful. Aim of the study is to evaluate if steroid treatment might be useful in improving thyrotoxicosis in subj...

The 4th International Workshop for the management of asymptomatic PHPT included the presence of hypercalciuria (dUCa> 400 mg/day) and increased stone risk by biochemical stone risk profile as criteria for surgery. Our aim was to evaluate the complete stone risk profile in 176 consecutive patients with asymptomatic PHPT. We recorded clinical and biochemical data, including 24 hours urinary measurements of the following parameters: volume and pH, creatinine, calcium, magnesi...

Introduction: Cushing’s Disease (CD) has been associated with the occurrence of psychopathologies, the most frequent of which are depression and anxiety. However, the extent of psychopathological disturbances of CD in the 21st century is elusive.Objectives: To explore psychopathologies and body image uneasiness (BIU) in untreated CD patients.Patients & methods: It was a prospective observational study enrolling 23 consecut...

Familial Isolated Hyperparathyroidism (FIHP) is a hereditary disorder characterized by primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) with no evidence of other endocrine disorders. Germline MEN1, CDC73 and CASR mutations have been identified, but the majority of FIHP has still unrecognized causes. The aim of this study was to identify, by whole-exome sequencing, novel gene alterations in a large FIHP kindred. The family’s proband, her sister, brother and ni...

Introduction: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are environmental pollutants that modulate endocrine functions, induce tumorigenesis, and regulate apoptosis in several tissues; however, their effects on the apoptosis of pituitary cells is unknown.The aim of this study was to evaluate the PCBs influence on the apoptosis of normal pituitary cells and elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved.Methods: Primary cell cultures from mouse...

Context: Programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death protein ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) are key regulators in T-cell activation and tolerance. Nivolumab (PD-1 inhibitor) and Atezolizumab (PD-L1 inhibitor) are monoclonal antibodies approved for the treatment of several types of advanced cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibition caused by these drugs can result in immune-related adverse events (irAEs) New-onset diabetes mellitus has been reported in fewer than 1% of patients an...