Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Dopamine agonists such as cabergoline and bromocriptine are used in the treatment of hyperprolactinemia to provide normoprolactinemia, to improve gonodal functions and to decrease the size of tumour if there is. Besides common side effects, fibrosis is another rare side effect of dopamine agonists. Long-term use of these drugs has been reported to cause fibrotic changes in heart valves. In addition, there are a few case reports about dopamine agonist-related pleu...

The neuropeptide vasopressin is now known to be released in the brain where it plays important roles in social behaviours. We have shown that the rat olfactory bulb (OB)1 and the anterior olfactory nucleus (AON)2 contain large populations of interneurones which express and release vasopressin. In the OB, single cell recordings from mitral cells in vivo showed that vasopressin modulates the processing of information by olfactory bulb neurones. Block...

Background: Long-term treatment with dopamine agonists (DAs) is considered to be the first-choice therapy for prolactinomas. According to current guidelines DAs can be safely withdrawn in patients with negative pituitary MRI and stable normalization of prolactin levels for at least 3 years. On the other hand, recent studies have shown an increased risk for valvular heart disease in patients with Parkinson’s disease treated with high doses of cabergoline. The aim of this s...

Introduction: Aortic elastic properties and aortic stiffness are important determinants of increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in different diseases. We aimed to investigate the aortic function and to evaluate the relationship between aortic stiffness and systolic and diastolic functions of the left ventricle in patients with Cushing’s disease (CD).Material and method: Fourteen women and one man with newly diagnosed CD, and 17 control c...

Resistance to thyroid hormone (RTH) is a rare dominantly inherited condition of impaired tissue responsiveness to thyroid hormones. Different tissue may exhibit variable degree of resistance and clinical presentation probably depending on the heterogeneity of factors that modulate the isoform of thyroid hormone receptor (THR). The heart shows different isoforms of THR and few data is reported on the cardiac functionally effects of the phenotypic heterogeneity; echocardiography...

The use of high doses of the ergot-derived dopamine receptor agonists such as cabergoline for treatment of Parkinson’s disease has been associated with increased prevalence of echocardiography detected cardiac valve disease. Whether smaller doses of cabergoline used for treating endocrine disorders causes similar valvular abnormalities is not yet conclusively established.We conducted echocardiographic screening of 35 adult endocrine patients on curr...

Ergot derived dopamine agonist therapy (EDDAT) has recently been associated with fibrotic cardiac valvulopathy in patients with Parkinson’s disease. These patients received a cumulative dose of 2800–6700 mg of cabergoline for an average duration of two years. This has raised concerns about the use of these agents in patients with prolactinomas and has led to the recent EMEA/MHRA guidance that all patient being treated with EDDA should undergo surveillance echocardiog...

Background: Cabergoline, a dopamine receptor-2 agonist, used to treat prolactinomas was associated with increased risk of cardiac valve disease.Objective: To evaluate prevalence of cardiac valve regurgitation in patients with prolactinomas treated with cabergoline.Design: Open, case–control, prospective.Patients: Fifty patients (44 women, 6 men) and 50 sex- and age-matched control subjects.<p class="...

Introduction: Amiodarone is an excellent antiarrhythmic with a high use although it isn’t free from complications. Most of patients stay euthyroid (80%), inducing thyroid dysfunction in the remaining 20% (thyrotoxicosis, 1.5–3%).Objective: We analyze amiodarona-associated hyperthyroidism surgical management according to the associated pathology and patients clinical evolution.Subjects and methods: We report four patients ...

Introduction: Dopamine Agonists are important in the management of endocrine disorders such as acromegaly and hyperprolactinaemia. Recent studies have shown that Cabergoline used in high doses to treat Parkinson’s disease is associated with cardiac valve fibrosis.Methods: We identified patients on long term high-dose cabergoline for the management of acromegaly. The following data was analysed: demographic data, duration of treatment, cumulative dos...