Journal Articles

Adrenal malignant melanoma masquerading as a pheochromocytoma in a patient with a history of a multifocal papillary and medullary thyroid carcinoma

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Maria E. Barmpari, Christos Savvidis, Anastasia D. Dede, Haridimos Markogiannakis, Christina Dikoglou, Paraskevi Xekouki, Constantine A. Stratakis, Andreas Manouras, Sofia Malaktari-Skarantavou

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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 …

Effect of Temozolomide in a patient with recurring oncocytic gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma

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Luis V. Syro, Bernd W. Scheithauer, Leon D. Ortiz, Camilo E. Fadul, Eva Horvath, Fabio Rotondo, Kalman Kovacs

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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 …

Prevalence and determinants of type 2 diabetes mellitus in a Greek adult population

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Sofia Tsirona, Fotis Katsaros, Alexandra Bargiota, Stergios A. Polyzos, George Arapoglou, George N. Koukoulis

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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 …

Thyrotoxic hypokalemic periodic paralysis in a Turkish patient presenting with a U wave on ECG

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Emre Gezer, Banu Şarer Yurekli, Gokçen Unal Kocabas

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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 …

Hypoglycaemia: Possible mediation by chromium salt medication

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Shabana Valiji Bharmal, Veronica Moyes, Sahid Ahmed, Ashley Grossman

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Drugs are the commonest cause of hypoglycaemia in patients without diabetes mellitus. However, in spite of this, a recent review highlighted the poor quality of evidence available supporting the association between numerous drugs and hypoglycaemia …

Association between TPO Asn698Thr and Thr725Pro gene polymorphisms and serum anti-TPO levels in Iranian patients with subclinical hypothyroidism

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Amirhosein Khoshi, Alireza Sirghani, Mehran Ghazisaeedi, Ali Zarei Mahmudabadi, Amir Azimian

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OBJECTIVE: Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is defined as high levels of TSH in the presence of normal levels of serum FT4. Since thyroid peroxidase (TPO) plays a key role in thyroid hormone synthesis, variations in the TPO gene can change the enzyme structure and result in the production of anti-TPO antibodies. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the Asn698Thr (A2095C) and Thr725Pro (A2173C) polymorphisms of the TPO gene and anti-TPO levels in patients with SCH …

The history of the parathyroid glands

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Ilias-Dimitrios Kafetzis, Antonis Diamantopoulos, Ioannis Christakis, Basileios Leoutsakos

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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 …

Effects of a hops (Humulus lupulus L.) dry extract supplement on self-reported depression, anxiety and stress levels in apparently healthy young adults: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover pilot study

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Ioannis Kyrou, Aimilia Christou, Demosthenes Panagiotakos, Charikleia Stefanaki, Katerina Skenderi, Konstantina Katsana, Constantine Tsigos

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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 …

Parathyroid carcinoma in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1. Case report and review of the literature

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Carlos del Pozo, Luis García-Pascual, Montserrat Balsells, María-José Barahona, Enrique Veloso, Clarisa González, Jordi Anglada-Barceló

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Parathyroid carcinoma is an infrequent cause of primary hyperparathyroidism. Although hyperparathyroidism in multiple endocrine neoplasia 1 (MEN1) syndrome is the most common manifestation, parathyroid carcinoma is rare. We report a male patient who was diagnosed at 44 years of age with parathyroid carcinoma in the context of MEN1 syndrome coincident …

Pegvisomant-primed growth hormone (GH) stimulation test is useful in identifying true GH deficient children

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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

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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 ...

Medullary thyroid cancer, leukemia, mesothelioma and meningioma associated with germline APC and RASAL1 variants: a new syndrome?

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Anna Angelousi, Nikolaos Settas, Fabio R. Faucz, Charalampos Lyssikatos, Martha Quezado, Narjes Nasiri-Ansari, Constantine A. Stratakis, Eva Kassi

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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 …

Oskar Minkowski (1858-1931). An outstanding master of diabetes research

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Victor Jörgens

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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).

Highlights from the history of hormonal cytology

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Aristidis Diamantis, George Androutsos

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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 …

A prismatic case: A 31-year old man who did not miss his pituitary

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Stefanie Petzold, Alexandra Keller, Eberhardt Keller, Christof Meigen, Wolfgang Hirsch, Jürgen Kratzsch, Wieland Kiess, Roland Pfäffle

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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 …

Metastatic bronchial neuroendocrine tumor to the pineal gland: A unique manifestation of a rare disease

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Simona Grozinsky-Glasberg, Susana Fichman, Ilan Shimon

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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 …

A complicated case of primary hypophysitis with bilateral intracavernous carotid artery occlusion

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Pinelopi Katsiveli, Maria Sfakiotaki, Nikolaos Voulgaris, Labrini Papanastasiou, Theodora Kounadi, Konstantinos Lymperopoulos, George Piaditis

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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 …

Sarcopenia: From definition to treatment

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Yannis Dionyssiotis, Athina Kapsokoulou, Eleni Samlidi, Antonios G. Angoules, Jannis Papathanasiou, Efstathios Chronopoulos, Ifigenia Kostoglou-Athanassiou, Georgios Trovas

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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 …

Craniopharyngiomas. Historical aspects of their management

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Eleanor Roderick, Niki Karavitaki, John AH Wass

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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…

When genotype prevails: sexual female-to-male transformation in Classical Antiquity, recorded by Gaius Plinius Secundus and Phlegon

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Anastasia K. Armeni, Vasiliki Vasileiou, Neoklis A. Georgopoulos

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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 …

Apollinaire Bouchardat (1806-1886): founder of modern Diabetology

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Marianna Karamanou, Michael Koutsilieris, Konstantinos Laios, Filio Marineli, George Androutsos

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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 …

Cognitive function in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis under levothyroxine treatment

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Vaitsa Giannouli, Konstantinos A. Toulis, Nikolaos Syrmos

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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 …

More on the acute transient thyroid swelling following needle biopsy

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Konstantinos Ziambaras

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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 …