Real-life data of Pasireotide LAR in acromegaly: a long-term follow-up.

Objective: Pasireotide LAR (PAS-LAR) was released in Italy in 2017 to treat acromegaly patients resistant to SRLs (Somatostatin Receptors Ligands). The long-term follow-up data of PAS-LAR therapy in Italy are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of PAS-LAR in acromegaly.

Analysis of a two-layer energy balance model: Long time behavior and greenhouse effect.

We study a two-layer energy balance model that allows for vertical exchanges between a surface layer and the atmosphere. The evolution equations of the surface temperature and the atmospheric temperature are coupled by the emission of infrared radiation by one level, that emission being partly captured by the other layer, and the effect of all non-radiative vertical exchanges of energy. Therefore, an essential parameter is the absorptivity of the atmosphere, denoted εa.

Conventional X-rays in the diagnosis and follow-up of vertebral fractures in patients with acromegaly: a real-life study.

Objectives: To explore the role of conventional X-ray imaging in detecting vertebral fractures (VFs) in patients with acromegaly, both at diagnosis of disease and at the last clinical visit. The risk factors for VFs were also evaluated.

Design And Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 60 consecutive patients with acromegaly, in a tertiary referral centre.

Vacuum and electromagnetic field in synergy for skin rejuvenation: A retrospective study on 217 patients.

Background: There are many aesthetic treatments aimed at combating aging. In the most common and frequently used ones there are often side effects, albeit minor ones. However, sometimes it is necessary to use medications before or after treatments.

Global psychological assessment with the evaluation of life and sleep quality and sexual and cognitive function in a large number of patients with acromegaly: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: Acromegaly is associated with somatic disfigurements which impair self-perception of well-being and quality of life. Nowadays, limited data are available on the interplay between hormonal excess and psychological discomfort. The study aimed at investigating the psychological profile, sleep quality, sexual function, cognitive functions, and quality of life in patients with acromegaly.

V-EMF treatment of facial scar: First results.

Aim Of Study: This is a retrospective study aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the use of electromagnetic fields and negative pressure treatment (V-EMF) for facial scars, from an aesthetic and functional point of view, and considering the variations in the levels of hydration.

Material And Methods: 25 subjects with facial scarring were re-evaluated after being treated with the V-EMF method. The hydration levels of the scars before and after treatment were compared.

An altered state of consciousness while using anticoagulants and the incidental discovery of a pituitary lesion: considering pituitary apoplexy.

Summary: Pituitary apoplexy (PA) is a medical emergency with complex diagnosis and management. In this study, we describe a case of PA in a 63-year-old male treated with oral anticoagulant therapy for atrial fibrillation. In the patient, PA manifested itself with asthenia and severe headache not responsive to common analgesics.

Are there country-specific differences in the use of pegvisomant for acromegaly in clinical practice? An analysis from ACROSTUDY.

Objective: A comprehensive picture of pegvisomant use for treating acromegaly in routine clinical practice in different countries is lacking. We aimed, therefore, to document country-specific behaviors in real-life pegvisomant use, and the main safety and effectiveness outcomes in the ACROSTUDY.

Design: ACROSTUDY is an open-label, non-interventional, post-marketing safety surveillance study.

Identification of Two Different Phenotypes of Patients with Amiodarone-Induced Thyrotoxicosis and Positive Thyrotropin Receptor Antibody Tests.

Serum thyrotropin (TSH) receptor antibodies (TRAbs) are occasionally found in patients with amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT), and usually point to a diagnosis of type 1 AIT (AIT1) due to Graves' disease (GD). However, the TRAb role and function in AIT have not been clarified. A retrospective cohort study of 309 AIT patients followed at a single academic center over a 30-year period.

Effect of high-dose intravenous glucocorticoid therapy on serum thyroid hormone concentrations in type 2 amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis: an exploratory study.

Purpose: Type 2 amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT2) is a form of drug-induced destructive thyroiditis, usually treated with oral glucocorticoids (oGCs). Our objective was to investigate the short-term effects of intravenous glucocorticoids (ivGCs) on serum thyroid hormone concentrations in patients with AIT2.

Methods: Exploratory study of three naive AIT2 patients treated with iv methylprednisolone (two pulses of 400 mg with no interpulse oGCs), followed by oGCs, matched 1:3 with AIT2 patients treated with oGCs alone.

Diabetes mellitus induced by somatostatin analogue therapy is not permanent in acromegalic patients.

Context: Therapy with somatostatin analogues (SSAs) may have deleterious effects on glucose metabolism in patients with acromegaly, often leading to the development of diabetes mellitus (DM).

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate whether DM, developed during therapy with SSAs, may revert after drug withdrawal and cure of acromegaly with pituitary adenomectomy.

Design: Retrospective cohort study, in a tertiary referral centre.

Mutational and large deletion study of genes implicated in hereditary forms of primary hyperparathyroidism and correlation with clinical features.

The aim of this study was to carry out genetic screening of the MEN1, CDKN1B and AIP genes, both by direct sequencing of the coding region and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) assay in the largest monocentric series of Italian patients with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1 syndrome (MEN1) and Familial Isolated Hyperparathyroidism (FIHP). The study also aimed to describe and compare the clinical features of MEN1 mutation-negative and mutation-positive patients during long-term follow-up and to correlate the specific types and locations of MEN1 gene mutations with onset and aggressiveness of the main MEN1 manifestations. A total of 69 index cases followed at the Endocrinology Unit in Pisa over a period of 19 years, including 54 MEN1 and 15 FIHP kindreds were enrolled.

Diabetes insipidus is an unfavorable prognostic factor for response to glucocorticoids in patients with autoimmune hypophysitis.

Introduction: Autoimmune hypophysitis (AH) has a variable clinical presentation and natural history; likewise, its response to glucocorticoid therapy is often unpredictable.

Objective: To identify clinical and radiological findings associated with response to glucocorticoids.

Design And Methods: 12 consecutive patients with AH, evaluated from 2008 to 2016.

Disease activity and lifestyle influence comorbidities and cardiovascular events in patients with acromegaly.

Objective: The primary objective of this study is to identify the predictors of comorbidities and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) that can develop after diagnosis of acromegaly. The role of therapy for acromegaly in the event of such complications was also evaluated.

Design And Methods: Retrospective cohort study was conducted on 200 consecutive acromegalic patients in a tertiary referral center.

The presence of anti-thyroglobulin (TgAb) and/or anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb) does not exclude the diagnosis of type 2 amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis.

Purpose: It is widely accepted that type 2 amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis (AIT) generally occurs in patients with a normal thyroid gland without signs of thyroid autoimmunity. However, it is currently unknown if the presence of anti-thyroglobulin (TgAb) and/or anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb) in AIT patients without other signs of an underlying thyroid disease may impair the response to glucocorticoid therapy.

Methods: We performed a pilot retrospective cohort study with matched-subject design and an equivalence hypothesis, comparing the response to glucocorticoid therapy between 20 AIT patients with a normal thyroid gland, low radioiodine uptake, undetectable TSH receptor antibodies and positive TgAb and/or TPOAb (Ab+ group), and 40 patients with the same features and absent thyroid antibodies (Ab- group).

Prognostic factors for pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (pNET) and the risk of small non-functioning pNET.

Background: Non-functioning (NF) pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET) often have an indolent outcome. A consensus to submit patients with large (>2 cm) NF-pNET to surgery already exists; but a conservative approach for small (≤2 cm) NF neoplasms has been proposed.

Aim: To identify prognostic factors for survival and progression free survival (PFS) of NF-pNET, evaluating whether surgery may be avoided for small NF-pNET.

A novel germline mutation in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein (AIP) gene in an Italian family with gigantism.

Purpose: Acromegaly usually occurs as a sporadic disease, but it may be a part of familial pituitary tumor syndromes in rare cases. Germline mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor-interacting protein (AIP) gene have been associated with a predisposition to familial isolated pituitary adenoma. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the AIP gene in a patient with gigantism and in her relatives.

The beneficial effect of acromegaly control on blood pressure values in normotensive patients.

Objective: Control of acromegaly may ameliorate blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive (HT) patients. We evaluated the impact of acromegaly control on BP values of normotensive (NT) acromegalics.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Growth hormone is necessary for the p53-mediated, obesity-induced insulin resistance in male C57BL/6J x CBA mice.

Insulin resistance is a key marker of both obesity and GH excess. The purpose of the study was to assess the role of GH on p53-mediated insulin resistance of male mice with obesity due to a high-fat diet. C57BL/6J × CBA male mice fed on a high-fat diet (Obe) were studied; male mice fed a normal diet (Lean) or transgenic mice for bovine GH under the same genetic background (Acro) served as controls.

Comparison of the effects of primary somatostatin analogue therapy and pituitary adenomectomy on survival in patients with acromegaly: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: Acromegalic patients have an increased risk of mortality. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of different therapies for acromegaly on mortality.

Design And Methods: The mortality rate of 438 consecutive acromegalic patients was compared with that of the general population using the standardized mortality ratio (SMR); the effect of different therapies on survival was evaluated using Cox regression analysis.