Treatment of Obesity with Thyroid hormones in Europe. Data from the THESIS* Collaboration.

Purpose: The use of thyroid hormones (TH) to treat obesity is unsupported by evidence as reflected in international guidelines. We explored views about this practice, and associations with respondent characteristics among European thyroid specialists.

Methods: Specialists from 28 countries were invited to a survey via professional organisations.

Patients' Persistent Symptoms, Clinician Demographics, and Geo-Economic Factors Are Associated with Choice of Therapy for Hypothyroidism by European Thyroid Specialists: The "THESIS" Collaboration.

Hypothyroidism is common, however, aspects of its treatment remain controversial. Our survey aimed at documenting treatment choices of European thyroid specialists and exploring how patients' persistent symptoms, clinician demographics, and geo-economic factors relate to treatment choices. Seventeen thousand two hundred forty-seven thyroid specialists from 28 countries were invited to participate in an online questionnaire survey.

Characteristics of specialists treating hypothyroid patients: the "THESIS" collaborative.

Introduction: Thyroid specialists influence how hypothyroid patients are treated, including patients managed in primary care. Given that physician characteristics influence patient care, this study aimed to explore thyroid specialist profiles and associations with geo-economic factors.

Methods: Thyroid specialists from 28 countries were invited to respond to a questionnaire, Treatment of Hypothyroidism in Europe by Specialists: an International Survey (THESIS).

Metabolomic differences between critically Ill women and men.

Metabolism differs in women and men at homeostasis. Critically ill patients have profound dysregulation of homeostasis and metabolism. It is not clear if the metabolic response to critical illness differs in women compared to men.

Metabolomic basis for response to high dose vitamin D in critical illness.

Background & Aims: It is unclear if intervention can mitigate the dramatic alterations of metabolic homeostasis present in critical illness. Our objective was to determine the associations between increased 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels following high dose vitamin D and more favorable metabolomic profiles in critical illness.

Methods: We performed a post-hoc metabolomics study of the VITdAL-ICU randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Value of monopolar and bipolar radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of benign thyroid nodules.

Only a few thyroid nodules are perceived as functional or optically disturbing. If there is a need for action, surgical intervention is the long-term standard by which thermoablative procedures (radiofrequency-, laser-, microwave ablation, high intensity focused ultrasound) must be measured against in terms of safety, effectiveness and patient satisfaction. Prior to intervention assessment of the dignity of the nodule by ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration is essential for cold and warm nodules, as is the confirmation of an inconspicuous cervical lymph node status.

Trying to identify who may benefit most from future vitamin D intervention trials: a post hoc analysis from the VITDAL-ICU study excluding the early deaths.

Background: Vitamin D supplementation has shown promise for reducing mortality in the intensive care setting. As a steroid prohormone with pleiotropic effects, there may be a lag between administration and observing clinical benefit. This secondary analysis of the VITdAL-ICU study sought to explore whether the effect size of vitamin D on mortality was different when study participants who died or were discharged early were excluded.

Radiofrequency ablation of thyroid nodules: "Good Clinical Practice Recommendations" for Austria : An interdisciplinary statement from the following professional associations: Austrian Thyroid Association (ÖSDG), Austrian Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (OGNMB), Austrian Society for Endocrinology and Metabolism (ÖGES), Surgical Endocrinology Working Group (ACE) of the Austrian Surgical Society (OEGCH).

The present "Good Clinical Practice Recommendations" relate to radiofrequency ablation (RFA) training, execution, and quality control, as well as to pre- and postinterventional standards of care. They are aimed at all physicians who intend to learn to perform, or who are already conducting RFA interventions as well as at thyroid specialists providing pre- and postoperative care to RFA patients in Austria. Adoption of these recommendations is strongly encouraged by the afore-listed professional associations.

Monopolar Radiofrequency Ablation of Thyroid Nodules: A Prospective Austrian Single-Center Study.

Background: Monopolar radiofrequency ablation is currently deemed an exotic treatment option for benign thyroid nodules in many central European countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate prospectively the safety and efficacy of this method in a large patient cohort following its introduction in Austria.

Methods: Peri- and post-interventional complications were analyzed for 277 patients.

Effect of vitamin D3 on bone turnover markers in critical illness: post hoc analysis from the VITdAL-ICU study.

Unlabelled: In this post hoc analysis of the VITdAL-ICU study, an RCT in critically ill adults with 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels ≤20 ng/ml, vitamin D3 did not have a significant effect on β-Crosslaps and osteocalcin.

Introduction: Observational studies have shown accelerated bone loss in ICU survivors. A reversible contributor is vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D and calcium supplementation for three years in postmenopausal osteoporosis significantly alters bone mineral and organic matrix quality.

Prospective, controlled clinical trials in postmenopausal osteoporosis typically compare effects of an active drug with placebo in addition to vitamin D and calcium supplementation in both treatment arms. While clinical benefits are documented, the effect of this supplementation in the placebo arm and in clinical practice on bone material composition properties is unknown. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate these bone quality indices (specifically mineral/matrix, nanoporosity, glycosaminoglycan content, mineral maturity/crystallinity, and pyridinoline content) in patients that either received long-term vitamin D (400-1200IU) and calcium (1.

Improvement of cancellous bone microstructure in patients on teriparatide following alendronate pretreatment.

An increase in procollagen type I amino-terminal propeptide (PINP) early after teriparatide initiation was shown to correlate with increased lumbar spine areal BMD and is a good predictor of the anabolic response to teriparatide. Few data exist correlating PINP and bone microstructure, and no data exist in patients on teriparatide following prior potent antiresorptive treatment. This exploratory analysis aimed to investigate the effects of teriparatide on cancellous bone microstructure and correlations of bone markers with microstructure in alendronate-pretreated patients.

Effect of high-dose vitamin D3 on hospital length of stay in critically ill patients with vitamin D deficiency: the VITdAL-ICU randomized clinical trial.

Importance: Low vitamin D status is linked to increased mortality and morbidity in patients who are critically ill. It is unknown if this association is causal.

Objective: To investigate whether a vitamin D3 treatment regimen intended to restore and maintain normal vitamin D status over 6 months is of health benefit for patients in ICUs.

Bone quality of the newest bone formed after two years of teriparatide therapy in patients who were previously treatment-naïve or on long-term alendronate therapy.

Unlabelled: The results of the present study, involving analysis of biopsies from patients who received teriparatide for 2 years and were previously either treatment-naïve or on long-term alendronate therapy, suggest that prior alendronate use does not blunt the favorable effects of teriparatide on bone quality.

Introduction: Examine the effect of 2 years of teriparatide (TPTD) treatment on mineral and organic matrix properties of the newest formed bone in patients who were previously treatment-naïve (TN) or on long-term alendronate (ALN) therapy.

Methods: Raman and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopic analyses were used to determine the mineral/matrix (M/M) ratio, the relative proteoglycan (PG) content, and the mineral maturity/crystallinity (MMC; determined by three methods: carbonate content, full width at half height of the v 1 PO4 band [FWHH], and wavelength at maxima of the v 1 PO4 band), as well as collagen maturity (ratio of pyridinoline/divalent cross-links), in paired iliac crest biopsies at trabecular, endosteal, and osteonal surfaces of newly formed bone in postmenopausal osteoporotic women who were previously either TN (n = 16) or receiving long-term ALN treatment (n = 24).

Current controversies in clinical management of postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a frequent disease in postmenopausal women. Despite the fact that fragility fractures cause many problems - a bio-psycho-social burden for the individual and an economic burden for the society - osteoporosis is still underdiagnosed and undertreated. Controversies exist concerning assessment with different tools for initiating a disease-specific treatment, patient monitoring with bone turnover markers, and treatment duration due to potential side effects in long-term treatment.

Sclerostin in institutionalized elderly women: associations with quantitative bone ultrasound, bone turnover, fractures, and mortality.

Objectives: To evaluate the association between levels of circulating sclerostin (an emerging biomarker and important regulator of bone formation) and laboratory parameters of bone and mineral metabolism, bone mineral density and quality measured using quantitative ultrasound (QUS), fracture risk, and mortality.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Austrian nursing homes (N = 95).

Vitamin D status and its association with season, hospital and sepsis mortality in critical illness.

Introduction: Vitamin D plays a key role in immune function. Deficiency may aggravate the incidence and outcome of infectious complications in critically ill patients. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and the correlation between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) and hospital mortality, sepsis mortality and blood culture positivity.

Effects of teriparatide on cortical histomorphometric variables in postmenopausal women with or without prior alendronate treatment.

Cortical bone, the dominant component of the human skeleton by volume, plays a key role in protecting bones from fracture. We analyzed the cortical bone effects of teriparatide treatment in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who had previously received long-term alendronate (ALN) therapy or were treatment naïve (TN). Tetracycline-labeled paired iliac crest biopsies obtained from 29 ALN-pretreated and 16 TN women were evaluated for dynamic histomorphometric parameters of bone formation at the periosteal, endocortical and intracortical bone compartments, before and after 24months of teriparatide treatment.

How long should women with postmenopausal osteoporosis be treated with a bisphosphonate?

Bisphosphonates are very frequently prescribed to women suffering from postmenopausal osteoporosis with or without fragility fractures. The present review was aimed to update the available information on the most efficient treatment duration. Studies on bisphosphonate treatment duration were identified by Medline up to January 2013.

Cystatin C is independently associated with total and cardiovascular mortality in individuals undergoing coronary angiography. The Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health (LURIC) study.

Aims: Cystatin C is a well established marker of kidney function. There is evidence that cystatin C concentrations are also associated with mortality. The present analysis prospectively evaluated the associations of cystatin C with all-cause and cardiovascular (CV) mortality in a well-characterized cohort of persons undergoing angiography, but without overt renal insufficiency.