Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Procalcitonin (PCT) is currently used as a sepsis marker. Studies have shown that this prohormone is elevated in patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and, additionally, that its assay could have less limitation than calcitonin (CT).Objective: To evaluate the concordance between the values of CT and PCT.Methods: CT, PCT and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were measured in a total of 57 subjects. CEA and CT we...

Introduction: The recognition of thyroid microcarcinoma has been increasing in recent years probably as a result of the widespread use of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB) of small non palpable nodules and possibly of a more extensive histological examination.Objectives: To describe clinical and histological characteristics of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma and compare them according to its size (< or ≥5 mm).<p clas...

Pheochromocytomas are rare, catecholamine-secreting, adrenal neoplasms. In about 25% of cases they arise in patients with germline mutations. Malignancy occurs in about 10%.We retrospectively analysed the records of patients with histological diagnosis of pheochromocytoma submitted to adrenal surgery between 1987–2008 and followed in the Endocrinology department.Thirteen patients were included. We evaluated age on diagnosis; c...

Prolactin is mainly found in the monomeric form although it can also occur in the big-PRL and bigbigPRL (bbPRL) form: a complex of prolactin and immunoglobulin G. The latter has reduced bioactivity despite maintaining its imunorreactivity. This can cause false positive results representing the main cause of interassay variability in prolactin measurement. It should therefore be considered in every study concerning hyperprolactinemia. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of bbPR...

CCK, secreted from duodenal cells in response to nutrients is involved in the satiety mechanisms, via activation of nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS). The arcuate (ARC) and paraventricular nuclei (PVN), which receives projections from NTS, integrate the circuitry that controls food intake. Corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) participates in the energy homeostasis, decreasing food intake.To evaluate the effect of glucocorticoid on feeding and neuronal ac...

Introduction: Just-glomerular tumours (reninomas) are rare causes of secondary hypertension (HT). They typically present with difficult to manage-HT, hypokalemia, hyperreninemia and secondary hyperaldosteronism. They are usually small lesions (<1 cm) and are more common in adolescents or young adults. Despite being rare, they should be considered in the diagnostic approach of secondary HT, as it they are a potentially curable cause.Case report: Femal...

Introduction: Patients with diabetes have an increased risk of low-energy bone fractures (LEF). Traditional clinical risk factors and bone mineral densitometry underestimate LEF risk in diabetics. We aim to evaluate the frequency of LEF and associated risk factors in the diabetic Portuguese population.Methods: National, cross-sectional and population-based study to describe the prevalence of self-reported LEF in diabetic subjects over 40 years-old. Estim...

Introduction: The TNM classification of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) is the most widely used thyroid cancer staging system. The 8th edition was published in 2016 and introduced modifications to the N0 classification. Histological analysis is no longer necessary for patients to be classified as N0, as long as there is no evidence of lymph node (LN) metastasis in the preoperative imaging tests or clinical eva...

Introduction: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A syndrome (MEN 2A) is caused by a germline mutation in the RET proto-oncogene and its phenotype includes medullary thyroid cancer, pheochromocytoma and primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Parathyroid reimplantation in the sternocleidomastoid muscle or in the brachioradial muscle can be performed in case of intraoperative lesion of the parathyroid glands. In some cases, PHPT may occur due to the proliferation of autotransplanted...

IntroductionHypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is a rare disease. When associated with anosmia/hyposmia, it is called Kallmann syndrome (KS). Several mutations in different genes have been implicated in its pathophysiology, the most frequent being ANOS1/KAL1, FGFR1 and GNRHR genes. This heterogenicity can be explained by the increasing detection of more than one pathogenic variant in the genes responsible for causing the disease (oligogenism). The preval...