Endocrine Abstracts

We present the case of a 67-year-old man who presented to the outpatient clinic for endocrinological evaluation after partial resection of an atypical pituitary adenoma (APA). Pathohistological assessment of two independent and experienced neuropathologists resulted in a diagnosis of APA with unusually high proliferation indices (Ki67 10–20%/p53 30%) and immunoreactivity for LH, FSH and the alpha-subunit. Clinical examination as well as laboratory testing revealed no sign...

Background: Soluble alpha klotho (sαKL) is a circulating protein that has been linked to the growth hormone (GH) axis. We previously showed its association to disease activity in patients with acromegaly, with considerable robustness towards biological confounders. However, there is scarce data in literature regarding the analytical performance of the assay, and pre-analytical stability of sαKL in blood samples. Objective: We aimed to evaluate ...

Background: Although the prognosis inGuillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is generally good, the protracted and sometimes incomplete recovery is a heavy burden for patients. Animal studies suggest that treatment with growth hormone (GH) could stimulate myelin repair and thus accelerate functional recovery in acute polyneuropathy. We report on the first use of GH in GBS.Objective: To monitor safety and tolerability as well as to evaluate the effect of off-l...

Introduction: Pasireotide is a potent somatostatin analogue (SSA) and used in therapy-refractory acromegaly, commonly after failure of treatment with first-generation SSA. However, it may induce severe hyperglycemia, which usually occurs rapidly after initiation of therapy and in general gradually improves over time. We here present two cases of young male patients who developed severe pasireotide-induced hyperglycemia after several years of treatment.Ca...

Introduction: Acromegaly is characterized by chronic growth hormone (GH) excess and leads to numerous changes in bodily functions and comorbidity. We compared potassium homeostasis in patients with acromegaly to hypertensive controls.Methods: We prospectively assessed serum potassium, urinary potassium excretion, aldosterone and renin, acid-base balance as well as glomerular filtration rate according to the CKD-EPI formula in 71 patients with acromegaly ...

Background: Adult GH deficiency (GHD) is diagnosed by provocative testing of GH secretion. To improve diagnostic accuracy of GHRH plus arginine (GARG) testing, we evaluated the influence of age, BMI, and sex. Furthermore, we aimed to established normative data for an automatic immunoassay specifically measuring 22kD human GH.Methods: Eighty-seven patients with hypothalamic-pituitary disease and 200 healthy controls were enrolled. Controls were prospectiv...

Introduction: Transsphenoidal surgery is the gold standard in Cushing’s disease and recurrence is a major risk. We wondered which impact remission and recurrence might have on control rates of hypercortisolism and conducted a systematic analysis of our cohort of patients with Cushing’s syndrome after undergoing surgical therapy.Methods: We analysed the course of the disease in 74 patients with ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome (63 Cushing&...

Introduction: Somatostatin analogues (SSA) present the treatment of choice in patients with previously poorly controlled acromegaly.Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of acromegalic patients enrolled in the Network of Excellence for Neuroendocrine Tumors Munich and treated with the SSA lanreotide.Results: Fifty-six acromegalic patients (25 females; mean age 59 years; 33 with macroadenoma) switched to lanreotide from pre...

Introduction: Acromegaly is a chronic disease that affects morphology and organ functions. These changes lead to clinically relevant comorbidities. Untreated acromegaly reduces life expectancy by 10 years, mostly due to cardiovascular events, malignancies and respiratory disorders. We present the results of a series of 109 acromegalic patients at a single institution.Methods: Lung function tests were performed under standardized conditions in patients wi...

Introduction: Craniopharyngioma is an insidious disease that leads to profound comorbidities. Outcomes of the disease have been studied in depth, but there is little data comparing pituitary comorbidities of cases diagnosed in recent years opposed to before. We hypothesized that advances in endocrinologic diagnostics and neurosurgery have led to a lower degree of comorbidities.Methods: We investigated 54 patients with adult-onset craniopharyngioma (28 ma...