Serum Bisphenol A concentrations in men with idiopathic infertility.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) has been associated with male reproductive dysfunction. However, few studies have assessed BPA according to the cause of male infertility.

Aim: To investigate serum BPA concentrations in infertile men according to infertility cause.

The Sertoli cell: Novel clinical potentiality.

The Sertoli cell is important for endocrine and paracrine control of spermatogenesis. Functions attributed to Sertoli cells are: (1) supportive and trophic functions for the cells of the seminiferous epithelium, (2) transport of mature spermatids towards the lumen of seminiferous tubules, (3) secretion of androgen binding protein, (4) production of substances with endocrine or paracrine action for spermatogenesis control and (5) interaction with intertubular endocrine Leydig cells. Inhibin B and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) are glycoproteins belonging to the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) superfamily; they are produced almost exclusively by the Sertoli cells and have been proposed as direct markers of their function and indirect markers of spermatogenesis.

Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis is associated with invasive characteristics of differentiated thyroid carcinoma in children and adolescents.

Background: The association between chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (CLT) and thyroid cancer is an interesting topic. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if demographic and histological characteristics as well as the long-term outcome of thyroid cancer was different in children and adolescents with and without CLT.

Methods: The medical records of children and adolescents (≤21 years old) were reviewed.

Papillary thyroid carcinomas in patients under 21 years of age: clinical and histologic characteristics of tumors ≤10 mm.

Objective: To compare clinical and histologic characteristics of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTCs) ≤10 mm in patients ≤21 years old with larger ones and with microcarcinomas in adults.

Study Design: Retrospective study of patients with PTC diagnosed between 1983 and 2012. Medical records were reviewed and information about age, sex, tumor size, intra/extrathyroid extension, lymph node, and distant metastases were collected.

Thyroglossal duct cyst carcinomas: is there a need for thyroidectomy?

Objective: Thyroglossal duct cyst (TGDC) carcinoma is a rare entity and its management is controversial. The aim of this retrospective study was to: (a) identify patients with TGDC carcinoma followed up in our clinic and (b) study specific characteristics of the disease and their association with thyroid carcinoma.

Design: Medical files of patients with TGDC carcinoma were reviewed and tumour characteristics, lymph node metastases, treatment and follow-up were evaluated.

Parathyroid involvement in thyroid cancer: an unforeseen event.

Background: Parathyroid metastatic disease from thyroid cancer has not been studied extensively, mainly due to the need for parathyroid preservation during thyroid surgery.

Methods: We reviewed files from 1,770 patients with thyroid cancer followed up in our department and 10 patients with parathyroid metastases (0.5%) were identified.

Dynamic endocrine test of inhibin B and anti-Müllerian hormone in men with non-obstructive azoospermia.

Although both serum inhibin B (Inh-B) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) concentrations have been proposed as markers of spermatogenesis in men with subfertility, there are wide overlaps with fertile controls. The main aim of this study was to evaluate stimulated serum Inh-B and AMH concentrations in men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA). Thirty-seven men with NOA confirmed by testicular fine-needle aspiration and 17 fertile controls participated at this prospective, case-control study.

Acute and chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in pregnancy complicated with preeclampsia.

Objective: To investigate whether Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cp) infection is more common in women whose current pregnancy is complicated with preeclampsia (PE) as compared to pregnant women without PE.

Methods: Thirty pregnant women with PE and 30 pregnant women without PE were studied between 29 and 30 weeks of gestation. The presence of an acute or chronic Cp infection was determined by the estimations of serum IgG, IgM, and IgA Cp antibodies.

Inhibin B and anti-Mullerian hormone as markers of persistent spermatogenesis in men with non-obstructive azoospermia: a meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy studies.

Introduction: A non-invasive test, which could predict the presence of sperm during a testicular sperm extraction (TESE) procedure in men with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), would be of profound clinical importance. Inhibin B (Inh-B) and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) have been proposed as direct markers of Sertoli cell function and indirect markers of spermatogenesis.

Methods: A search was conducted in the electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception through June 2009.

Serum inhibin B and anti-Müllerian hormone are not superior to follicle-stimulating hormone as predictors of the presence of sperm in testicular fine-needle aspiration in men with azoospermia.

Objective: To compare FSH, inhibin B (INHB), and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) as predictors of the recovery of sperm in testicular fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) performed in men with azoospermia.

Design: Cross-sectional, clinical study.

Setting: Academic Unit of Reproductive Endocrinology.

Serum anti-Müllerian hormone levels differentiate control from subfertile men but not men with different causes of subfertility.

Aim: To determine stimulated serum anti-Mllerian hormone (AMH) levels in men with different causes of subfertility.

Subjects And Methods: We prospectively studied 82 subfertile men and 31 controls. The subfertile men underwent a diagnostic procedure to identify the causes of subfertility.

R831X mutation of the androgen receptor gene in an adolescent with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome and bilateral testicular hamartomata.

An 18-year old, phenotypically female individual was examined for primary amenorrhea. Three months before her referral, the patient underwent surgery and a pelvic mass was removed. The physical examination revealed normal female external genitalia, normal breast development, sparse pubic hair and absence of axillary hair.