Rafael Denadai, Luίs Ricardo Martinhão Souto
We read with interest the review article by Ibrahim and Fadeyibi and have the following comments regarding the evaluation of lesions in ectopic thyroid. Although the authors point out that fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is important when malignancy is suspected …
Allard Dijkhuizen, Leonie Theresia van Hulsteijn, Bert Bonsing, Eleonora P.M. Corssmit, Sharita R Ramautar, Leon P.H.J. Aarts, Jaap Vuyk
Adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma (PCC) is generally performed after preparation with α- and β-sympathicolytic agents to blunt the effects of the elevated catecholamine output. In patients also known to have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, this preoperative workup …
Emmanouela Papadaki
In a recent article, three case reports of familiar isolated primary hyperparathyroidism due to HRPT 2 mutation are presented. For the detection the authors used laboratory tests, u/s and nuclear medicine imaging techniques …
Emre Gezer, Banu Şarer Yurekli, Gokçen Unal Kocabas
Hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HPP) is a rare neuromuscular disorder caused by dysfunction of the ion channels in red muscle cells and which is characterized by painless episodes of muscle weakness generally after strenuous exertion or a high-carbohydrate meal …
Ilias-Dimitrios Kafetzis, Antonis Diamantopoulos, Ioannis Christakis, Basileios Leoutsakos
Greep in 1963 as well as Pang and Epple in 1980 advanced the view that the parathyroids originally appeared 100 million years ago, in the context of the evolutionary development of amphibians. This coincided with the transition of life from the calcium-rich marine environment to the terrestrial or the aquatic environments …
Ioannis N. Tsoulogiannis, Demetrios A. Spandidos
This article attempts to analyze the crucial link between the plant Agnus castus and human health, particularly hormonal status, with special reference to the needs of the society of ancient Sparta. T he ancient Spartans used Agnus both as a cure for infertility and as a remedy to treat battle wounds…
Evangeline Vassilatou, Markos Fisfis, George Morphopoulos, Sotiria Savva, Eugenia Voucouti, Katerine Stefanoudaki, Ioanna Tzavara
Thyroid tumors producing colony-stimulating factors associated with neutrophilia and/or eosinophilia are very rare and almost all of them concern anaplastic thyroid cancer. Only one case of papillary thyroid carcinoma associated with neutrophilia and one case of medullary thyroid carcinoma associated with eosinophilia have been reported.
Maria E. Barmpari, Christos Savvidis, Anastasia D. Dede, Haridimos Markogiannakis, Christina Dikoglou, Paraskevi Xekouki, Constantine A. Stratakis, Andreas Manouras, Sofia Malaktari-Skarantavou
Objective: Adrenal masses usually represent benign and nonfunctional adrenal adenomas; however, primary or metastatic malignancy should also be considered. Discovery of an adrenal mass needs further evaluation in order to exclude malignancy and hormonal secretion. We present a rare case of a possibly primary adrenal malignant melanoma with imaging and biochemical features of a pheochromocytoma. Case report: A 61-year-old male farmer was referred for evaluation …
Anna Angelousi, Nikolaos Settas, Fabio R. Faucz, Charalampos Lyssikatos, Martha Quezado, Narjes Nasiri-Ansari, Constantine A. Stratakis, Eva Kassi
Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a neuroendocrine tumor hereditary in 35% of cases. The most common syndromic form is in the context of the multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2) syndromes in association with other tumors and due to germline RET mutations. We describe a 57-year-old female patient diagnosed with sporadic MTC …
Ioannis Kyrou, Aimilia Christou, Demosthenes Panagiotakos, Charikleia Stefanaki, Katerina Skenderi, Konstantina Katsana, Constantine Tsigos
OBJECTIVE: The Humulus lupulus L. plant (hops) is used as a herbal medicinal product for anxiety/mood disorders. Our aim was to study the effects of a hops dry extract on self-reported depression, anxiety and stress levels in young adults. DESIGN: Apparently healthy young adults from our university completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and those reporting at least mild depression …
Giorgio Radetti, Heba H. Elsedfy, Randa Khalaf, Cristina Meazza, Sara Pagani, Mohamed El Kholy, Riccardo Albertini, Anna Maria De Stefano, Antonella Navarra, Annalisa De Silvestri, Mauro Bozzola
OBJECTIVE: Provocative stimulation tests for growth hormone (GH) assessment have poor reproducibility and can often elicit false positive results in normal children. The aim of our study was to confirm the capability of pegvisomant as an enhancer of GH secretion in unmasking false-positive results in short children (height <-2.0 standard deviation score, SDS) undergoing GH testing ...
Sofia Tsirona, Fotis Katsaros, Alexandra Bargiota, Stergios A. Polyzos, George Arapoglou, George N. Koukoulis
The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) is increasing worldwide reaching epidemic proportions. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of DM in Thessaly, a large region of Central Greece, and to extrapolate our results to the population of the entire country. A random sample of 805 adults (421 females and 384 men) living in Thessaly, aged 18-80 years, was surveyed. After completing a questionnaire about health status and a thorough physical examination …
Luis V. Syro, Bernd W. Scheithauer, Leon D. Ortiz, Camilo E. Fadul, Eva Horvath, Fabio Rotondo, Kalman Kovacs
The patient was a 70-year-old man with a recurrent pituitary tumor. Three surgeries were performed but the tumor recurred. Based on histologic, immunohistochemical and ultrastructural studies, the diagnosis of oncocytic gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma was made. The tumor was a macroadenoma partly immunopositive for LH …
Simona Grozinsky-Glasberg, Susana Fichman, Ilan Shimon
Metastatic Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) to the pineal gland is a unique manifestation previously unreported in the literature. We describe an unusual case of metastatic bronchial NET to the pineal gland in a 71-year-old male patient. His primary NET had been resected six years previously and there was no indication of the presence of disseminated metastatic disease at that time …
Aristidis Diamantis, George Androutsos
In 1847 Felix-Archimede Pouchet effectively launched the study of the physiology of cytology. Now 160 years later, the authors briefly trace the development of hormonal cytology to our present knowledge and practice. In the course of the paper the contribution of George Papanicolaou is stressed because of his monumental contribution to a major segment of medical practice of great emotive import …
Stefanie Petzold, Alexandra Keller, Eberhardt Keller, Christof Meigen, Wolfgang Hirsch, Jürgen Kratzsch, Wieland Kiess, Roland Pfäffle
Combined pituitary hormone deficiency (CPHD) is a rare disorder resulting from impaired production of several pituitary hormones. This report describes the 30-year history of a patient who has apparently lived without a pituitary …
Victor Jörgens
Oskar Minkowski, a physician of many talents, was an outstanding clinical scientist, a brilliant experimental investigator and a prolific medical writer. His name is connected with highly important clinical studies and experimental probes, all of which significantly contributed to our understanding of the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus after removal of the pancreas (experimental pancreatectomy).
Vaitsa Giannouli, Konstantinos A. Toulis, Nikolaos Syrmos
ΟBJECTIVE: Although overt hypothyroidism has been documented as exerting detrimental effects on cognition and behavior, it remains controversial whether subclinical hypothyroidism or euthyroid patients with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) under levothyroxine (LT4) treatment …
Miguel Ángel Arrabal-Polo, María del Carmen Cano-García, Miguel Arrabal-Martín
It is well known that patients with recurrent calcium nephrolithiasis present bone mineral density loss manifesting as osteopenia or osteoporosis in the lumbar spine and/or hip. Moreover, it has been observed that in patients with calcium stones and idiopathic hypercalciuria …
Pinelopi Katsiveli, Maria Sfakiotaki, Nikolaos Voulgaris, Labrini Papanastasiou, Theodora Kounadi, Konstantinos Lymperopoulos, George Piaditis
Primary hypophysitis (PH) is a rare clinical entity characterized by inflammatory infiltration of the pituitary gland with various degrees of pituitary dysfunction. OBJECTIVE: To present a complicated case of aggressive PH with bilateral cavernous sinuses infiltration, successfully treated with azathioprine after failure of corticosteroid treatment. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 48-year-old woman presented with episodes of recurrent headache …
Eleanor Roderick, Niki Karavitaki, John AH Wass
The history of the management of craniopharyngiomas offers a comprehensive review of the exciting progress in neurosurgery, neuroimaging, neuroendocrinology and radiation oncology during the last century. In this historical note, we present the evolution in management of these most challenging of brain tumours, which, despite the substantial knowledge and expertise gained since the first attempt of surgical removal, remains a subject of considerable debate…
Marianna Karamanou, Michael Koutsilieris, Konstantinos Laios, Filio Marineli, George Androutsos
Apollinaire Bouchardat is regarded as the founder of the field of Diabetology. His contributions to the field include the first known recommendations for specific diets for the management of Diabetes Mellitus and his emphasis on patient education and self-monitoring. He was moreover a great pharmacist as well as a distinguished physician and biochemist …
Anastasia K. Armeni, Vasiliki Vasileiou, Neoklis A. Georgopoulos
Cases of sexual reassignment in classical antiquity, namely a female-to-male gender change occurring after childhood, are described in the literature. Textual evidence concerning these cases of androgynism and their symbolism as well as a comprehensive scholar analysis is provided in the present study …
Yannis Dionyssiotis, Athina Kapsokoulou, Eleni Samlidi, Antonios G. Angoules, Jannis Papathanasiou, Efstathios Chronopoulos, Ifigenia Kostoglou-Athanassiou, Georgios Trovas
Over the last few decades, worldwide average life expectancy has grown significantly and therefore the percentage of the elderly has correspondingly increased. As a result, clinical medicine has focused much interest on the latter age group and their health problems. During the 20th century, the typical elderly patient was a person with an acute or chronic disease …
Konstantinos Ziambaras
In response to the very interesting article that was published in Hormones 2012, 11(2): 147-150 “Acute transient thyroid swelling following needle biopsy: An update”, I would like to share our experiences regarding this phenomenon …