ACTA ENDOCRINOLOGICA (BUC)

Background. Iodine deficiency and/or thyroid autoimmunity are the most common causes of hypothyroidism development among pregnant women. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of iodine consumption and thyroid autoimmunity on TSH levels and abortus. The study sample consisted of 104 patients, 79 in abortus and 25 in control groups. TSH, free T4, free T3, anti-TPO, anti-Tg, spot urinary iodine concentrations, and thyroid volumes of the cases were measured by ultrasonography. The spot urine concentration was below 100 μg/L in 93% of the cases included in the study. The TSH levels of the abortus group cases were significantly higher than those of the controls (p=0.025). The percentage of subclinical hypothyroid cases were significantly higher among the cases evaluated due to abortus compared to the control group (p<0.001). Abortus and control groups did not differ statistically with respect to the presence of autoimmune thyroid diseases (p=0.424). Spot urine iodine concentrations of abortus cases with subclinical hypothyroid were significantly lower than those with TSH levels below the defined range (p=0.001). Spot urine iodine concentrations of the cases with subclinical abortus with negative thyroid autoantibodies were also significantly lower than those with TSH levels below the defined range (p=0.017). TSH levels above 1 μIU/mL for the first trimester and 2 μIU/mL for the second trimester may be indicators of iodine nutrition in pregnancy losses.

Background. Aortic dissection is a life-threatening disorder and up to 20% of patients die before receiving medical care. Marfan syndrome is noted in 5–9% of individuals who suffer from aortic dissection. Case presentation. We present the case of a 53 years old woman, with undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, addressed to our clinic complaining about thoracolumbar pain appeared 4 days ago, after a trauma. According to the revised Ghent criteria for the diagnostic of Marfan syndrome she had a positive family history and more than 7 points of systemic findings. She was also diagnosed with extensive aortic dissection and right pneumothorax. Because of the cachexia and important scoliosis, the operative and post operative risk was high and we decided a medical management. She remained haemodynamically stable, with a false lumen partially trombosed, and was discharged home after 23 days. Discussion. The particularity of our case represent the diagnostic of Marfan syndrome after the appearance of a vital risk vascular complication – aortic dissection, the emergency surgical intervention being limited by the clinical and prognostical particularities of these two comorbidities. Conclusion. Aortic dissection in Marfan syndrome represents a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for interdisciplinary practitioner physicians.

Xanthomatosis is a rare disease; predominantly, it is a response to altered lipid levels in the form of a mucocutaneous granulomatous proliferative disorder of unclear origin. When blood lipid levels exceed the normal values, the macrophages around the blood vessels may result in xanthoma. The present case was observed in a 55-year-old woman who suffered from Cushing’s disease and had atypical xanthomas in her oral mucosa that were diagnosed by histopathological analysis and were associated with normal serum cholesterol levels.

Objective. This study was undertaken to examine prognostic factors in patients with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET) undergoing surgical treatment to evaluate the prognostic value of recently introduced immunohistochemical staining methods of CD10 and cytokeratin 19. Materials and Methods. Tumors were classified on the basis of 2004 WHO Classification Guidelines and European Neuroendocrine Tumor\r\nSociety (ENETS) grading system. Immunohistochemical staining with Ki- 67, CD10 and cytokeratin 19 was performed. Results. A total of 36 patients with a mean age of 53.7 ? 12.0 years were included. Overall, 33 patients had a long-term follow-up with 10 patients (30.3%) experiencing recurrence. Seven\r\npatients (21.1%) died. Clinical parameters that were associated with recurrence included liver metastasis at the time of surgery and extra-pancreatic invasion (p < 0.005). Positive surgical margins, extra-pancreatic invasion, and multi-focal disease were associated with reduced survival (p < 0.05). In addition, there was an association between\r\nsurvival and WHO 2004 classification (p < 0.05).\r\nConclusions. Although vascular and peripancreatic invasion showed increased risk of recurrence, they were unrelated to survival. Of the histopathological examinations, Ki-67\r\nand mitotic activity showed a correlation with both recurrence and survival, while immunohistochemical\r\nstaining with cytokeratin 19 and CD 10 did not provide adequate prognostic information.

Lithuanian’s male sperm quality was found to be much better as compared with other centres. The highest values of Kaunas young males were observed in total testicular volume, total sperm count, estradiol and SHBG. Parameters much higher than in other centres were sperm volume, normal morphology, sperm concentration, total motility, level of inhibin B and LH. These parameters are important for overall reproductive capacity of Lithuanians. Sperm quality and high spermatogenesis regulating hormone concentration may be considered as ethnic sign of reproductive capacity of a population.