Endocrine Abstracts

Background: BAFF is a Serum B cell stimulating factor shown elevated in Graves’ disease, compared to controls (Vannucchi 2012). BAFF and its receptor are expressed on lymphocytes infiltrating the thyroid in Graves’ disease as well as on thyrocytes themselves (Campi 2015).Aims: A single-blind randomized controlled trial (EudraCT 2015-002127-26) has been conducted to test the efficacy of the anti-BAFF monoclonal antibody belimumab (BMB) in acti...

BackgroundSerum B cell stimulating factor (BAFF) has been shown to be elevated in Graves’ disease (Vannucchi 2012). In addition, BAFF and its receptor have been shown to be expressed on lymphocytes infiltrating the thyroid in Graves’ disease and also on thyrocytes (Campi 2015).AimsWe tested in a single-blind randomized controlled trial (EudraCT 2015–002127–26) whether the administration ...

Background: thyroid function (TSH levels) and thyroid autoimmunity are involved in the immunomodulation of early pregnancy stages and can affect assisted reproductive technology (ART).Aims: 1) to evaluate if pre-conceptional TSH is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, 2) to identify a TSH cut-off significantly associated with risk of miscarriage, 3) to assess the impact of TSH levels on primary and surrogate outcomes.M...

TSH is involved in the immunomodulation of early pregnancy stages. Thyroid guidelines have indicated 2.5 mU/l as the best TSH level below which women undergoing assisted reproductive technology (ART) need to be maintained, though this treshold is still controversial. Aims of the present study were to evaluate if pre-conceptional TSH is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, to identify a TSH cut-off significantly associated with risk of miscarriage and to assess the...

The anti-CD 20 antibody rituximab (RTX) has been employed in the treatment of several autoimmune diseases and its effect may not involve autoantibody secretion. Preliminary studies have shown that RTX induced improvement of active Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) but caused no change of serum anti-thyroid antibodies in relation to peripheral CD 20+ cells depletion, usually observed at the second week after therapy. A 50-year-old woman with GO predominantly active in the left eye ...

A seasonal occurrence of Graves’ disease (GD) has been reported in previous studies, with a peak of frequency in the warmer half of the year (Ford 1988, 1991, Westphal 1994) or the period of the year with a higher iodine intake (Phillips 1985); other studies (Facciani 2000) have failed to find a different seasonal occurrence of Graves’ orbitopathy (GO). Aim of the present study was to evaluate a possible seasonal difference in the onset of GD and GO in a series of ou...

An increasing prevalence of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) of small size have been recorded in recent years. These tumors have a favorable outcome in most cases, and total thyroidectomy without radioiodine therapy is suggested for microcarcinomas (defined as ≤1 cm). The 6th edition of the TNM staging system for thyroid cancers includes in the T1 category tumors ≤2 cm, limited to the thyroid. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical/pathological fea...

Thyroid cancer represents the second more frequent tumor among those diagnosed during pregnancy. Indeed, during pregnancy thyroid volume increases by 20–30% and new nodules can appear, due to the effect of choriogonadotropin which stimulates thyroid growth. Hence, it has been proposed that thyroid cancer diagnosed during pregnancy could harbour a poorer prognosis. Aim of the present study was to compare the clinical outcome in the following 3 groups of patients affected w...

Pretibial myxedema (PM) is a rare extrathyroidal manifestation of Graves’ disease for which there is no specific treatment. When the clinical picture is markedly evident, topical treatment with steroid ointments is practised. There has been previous experience of subcutaneous injections with steroids by using standard needles, but this procedure caused nodular degeneration of the skin. Aim of the present study was to experiment a novel modality of treatment with the injec...

Background: Cytology is the gold standard method for the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules, though 25−30% of them are classified as indeterminate and, in some cases, surgery is required for a definitive diagnosis. Aim: In order to reduce unnecessary thyroid surgeries, we set up a ‘thyroid risk score’ (TRS) to increase the diagnostic accuracy in a large series of patients with indeterminate cytology and to apply it to a validation ...