Publications by authors named "Rosaria-Maddalena Ruggeri"

Background: The Mediterranean diet (MedD) exerts anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects that are beneficial in autoimmune thyroid diseases (ATD). Recently, a gluten-free diet (GFD) has been proposed for non-celiac patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), but its usefulness is under debate. The present pilot study evaluates the effects of these two dietary regimes, with a focus on redox homeostasis, in HT.

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Objective: The prevalence of Thyroid-Cancer (TC) has increased worldwide and an association with metabolic and cardio-vascular disorders has been reported. Moreover, an increasing percentage of patients are currently diagnosed incidentally through non-thyroid related imaging for other clinical conditions. Our aim was to assess the prevalence of Thyroid-Related (TD) versus Incidental (ID) pre-surgery reasons leading to TC diagnosis and to compare the two groups in terms of clinical characteristics, size and severity of TC at presentation and rate of non-thyroid cancers and cardiovascular/metabolic comorbidities.

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Article Synopsis
  • Recent advancements in the management of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) emphasize the importance of careful postoperative disease assessment to determine if iodine-131 therapy is needed and to tailor treatment goals accordingly (ablative, adjuvant, or therapeutic).
  • A comprehensive review of the literature highlights that personalized risk-based approaches to iodine-131 therapy significantly enhance early disease staging and response assessment, particularly for metastatic DTC patients.
  • Diagnostic and theragnostic uses of iodine isotopes are crucial for improving postoperative risk stratification and enabling more effective evaluation of patient responses to initial treatments.
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  • Atypical parathyroid tumors (aPT) and parathyroid carcinoma (PC) are very rare types of tumors in the parathyroid glands, making up less than 2% of all such tumors.
  • The study looked at patients with aPT and PC to see how they compare in terms of medical features and problems.
  • Both types showed similar symptoms, but PCs had more kidney issues and a higher chance of the disease coming back after surgery, leading to plans for better tracking and study of these tumors in Italy and Europe.
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Objective: Decreased survival and higher cardiovascular morbidity have been recently reported in a UK cohort of 61 RTHβ patients, but there is no evidence from other countries.

Design: Retrospective cohort study from an historical group of 284 Italian RTHβ patients, diagnosed between 1984 and 2023.

Methods: We collected data on diagnosis of 284 cases and longitudinal data of 249 RTHβ who carried heterozygous pathogenic variants in the THRB gene.

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Article Synopsis
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors, used in cancer treatment like metastatic melanoma, are generally better tolerated than traditional chemotherapy but can cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs) affecting various organs, with endocrine disorders being especially common.
  • A 55-year-old woman with Hashimoto's thyroiditis developed severe endocrine issues, including both hyperthyroidism and adrenal insufficiency, after being treated with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab.
  • There is a risk of concurrent autoimmune diseases affecting multiple glands during ICI therapy, resembling autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 2, which necessitates close monitoring of hormone levels to prevent serious complications.
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The term noninvasive tumor with a follicular growth pattern and nuclear features of papillary thyroid cancer (NIFTP) is used to describe a tumor currently considered as a pre-malignant lesion for which a conservative therapeutic approach (i.e., lobectomy without radioiodine therapy) is strongly suggested.

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Autoimmune thyroid diseases are on the rise worldwide, and such a rapid increase is mainly driven by environmental factors related to changed lifestyles in "modern" societies. In this context, diet seems to play a crucial role. An unhealthy high-energy diet, rich in animal fat and proteins, salt and refined sugars (the so-called "Western diet") negatively influences the risk of autoimmunity by altering the immune balance and the gut microbiota composition, enhancing oxidative stress and promoting inflammation.

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(1) Background: This paper aims to assess the existence of significant differences between two dietary regimes (omnivorous vs. semi-vegetarian) with reference to some oxidative stress markers (SOD, GPx, TRxR, GR, AGEs, and AOPPs) using non-parametric combination methodology based on a permutation test. (2) Methods: At the endocrinology unit of Messina University Hospital, two hundred subjects were asked to fill out a questionnaire about their dietary habits.

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Introduction: Hypophosphatasia (HPP) is a rare genetic disease caused by inactivating variants of the ALPL gene. Few data are available on the clinical presentation in Italy and/or on Italian HPP surveys.

Methods: There were 30 suspected HPP patients recruited from different Italian tertiary cares.

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In differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients, the response to initial treatments is evaluated 6-12 months after radioiodine therapy (RIT) according to the 2015 American Thyroid Association (2015 ATA) criteria. In selected patients, diagnostic 131-radioiodine whole-body scintigraphy (Dx-WBS) is recommended. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of I-Dx-WBS-SPECT/CT imaging in detecting incomplete structural responses in the early follow-up of DTC patients and, additionally, derived optimized basal-Tg value as a yardstick for scintigraphic imaging.

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Objectives: To compare the efficacy of low and moderate I activities in low-risk differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients requiring postoperative thyroid remnant ablation in a real-world clinical setting.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 299 low-risk DTC patients (pT1-T2, Nx(0) Mx) who had undergone (near)-total thyroidectomy followed by I therapy, using either low (1.1 GBq) or moderate (2.

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Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized the therapeutic landscape of solid tumors. However, although ICIs are better tolerated than conventional chemotherapy, their use is associated with a peculiar toxicity profile, related to the enhancement of the immune response, affecting several organs. Among immune-related adverse events (irAEs), up to 10% involve the endocrine system.

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Background: We aimed to evaluate the role of circulating miRNAs as a biomarker of the persistence of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) in patients with an "uninformative" thyroglobulin (Tg) measurement.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 49 consecutive PTC patients with Tg-positive antibodies (TgAb) who had undergone a (near)-total thyroidectomy and I therapy (RIT). The serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), Tg, and TgAb levels were measured before and at 6 and 12 months after RIT, respectively.

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Background: Early identification of cervical lymph node (LN) metastases cervical lymph node metastases (CLNM) is crucial in the management of differentiated thyroid cancer differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) as it influences the indication and the extent of surgery with an impact on the recurrence risk and overall survival. The present review focused on novel sensitive and specific diagnostic techniques, by searching through online databases like MEDLINE and Scopus up to February 2022.

Areas Covered: The techniques identified included contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), dosage of fragment 21-1 of cytokeratin 19 (CYFRA 21-1) in lymph node fine needle aspiration washout, sentinel LN biopsy (SNB), and artificial intelligence (AI) - deep learning applied to ultrasonography and computed tomography.

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Background: Hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) or pseudo-hypoparathyroidism (pseudo-HypoPT) during pregnancy may cause maternal and fetal/neonatal complications. In this regard, only a few case reports or case series of pregnant or lactating women have been published. The purpose of this study was to describe clinical and biochemical course, pharmacological management, and potential adverse events during pregnancy and post-partum in pregnant women with HypoPT or pseudo-HypoPT.

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Introduction: Hypophysitis is an inflammation of the pituitary gland and a rare case of hypopituitarism. Despite the expanding spectrum of histological variants and causative agents, its pathogenesis is far to be fully understood. The present review is focused on recent evidence concerning the pathogenesis of autoimmune hypophysitis by searching through online databases like MEDLINE and Scopus up to May 2021.

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Objective: No data are available on advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and their soluble receptor (sRAGE) in pediatric patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). The present study was aimed to simultaneously evaluate serum levels of sRAGE, AGEs, and advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) and investigate the relationships between these oxidative stress markers and clinical and biochemical parameters of thyroid function in euthyroid children with HT.

Design: This is a case-control study carried out in a single university hospital center.

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Aim: The risk of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) recurrence is widely evaluated according to the 2015 ATA Risk Stratification System. Topography of malignant nodules has been previously reported as an additional risk factor but is not included in the ATA system. Thus, our study aimed to evaluate the relationship between DTC topography and response to initial therapy.

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: During the COVID-19 pandemic thyroid gland alteration/dysfunction has been emerged as a possible endocrine complication. The present review is focused on inflammatory and autoimmune thyroid complications triggered by SARS-CoV-2 infection by searching through databases like MEDLINE and Scopus up to April 2021.: Beside the occurrence of 'non-thyroidal illness' in severe clinical conditions, alterations of thyroid function and structure may occur during COVID-19 as a consequence of either direct or indirect effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the gland.

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Neuroendocrine breast tumors represent a rare subtype of breast cancer, accounting for less than 1% of all neuroendocrine neoplasms. Starting from their pathology definition, and going through their prevalence, prognosis and treatment, our knowledge is still really uncertain. In the present short review of the medical literature on this topic, we have evaluated in details their epidemiology, risk factors, pathogenesis, pathology, clinical presentation, radiographic aspects, prognosis, and therapy.

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