Summary

An 11-year-old girl presented with acute lower limb weakness, dehydration, hypernatraemia and secondary rhabdomyolysis on a background of an 8-month history of polyuria. Radiological investigations revealed a suprasellar tumour which was diagnosed on biopsy as a non-metastatic germinoma. Further endocrinological investigations confirmed panhypopituitarism and she commenced desmopressin, hydrocortisone and thyroxine. Her chemotherapeutic regime consisted of etoposide, carboplatin and ifosfamide, the latter of which required 4 litres of hyperhydration therapy daily. During the first course of ifosfamide, titration of oral desmopressin was trialled but this resulted in erratic sodium control leading to disorientation. Based on limited literature, we then trialled an arginine-vasopressin (AVP) infusion. A sliding scale was developed to adjust the AVP dose, with an aim to achieve a urine output of 3–4 mL/kg/h. During the second course of ifosamide, AVP infusion was commenced at the outset and tighter control of urine output and sodium levels was achieved. In conclusion, we found that an AVP infusion during hyperhydration therapy was required to achieve eunatraemia in a patient with cranial diabetes insipidus. Developing an AVP sliding scale requires individual variation; further reports/case series are required to underpin practice.

Learning points:

• Certain chemotherapeutic regimens require large fluid volumes of hyperhydration therapy which can result in significant complications secondary to rapid serum sodium shifts in patients with diabetes insipidus.

• The use of a continuous AVP infusion and titrating with a sliding scale is more effective than oral desmopressin in regulating plasma sodium and fluid balance during hyperhydration therapy.

• No adverse effects were found in our patient using a continuous AVP infusion.

• Adjustment of the AVP infusion rate depends on urine output, fluid balance, plasma sodium levels and sensitivity/response of the child to titrated AVP doses.

Summary

Menopause is a relative hyperandrogenic state but the development of hirsutism or virilizing features should not be regarded as normal. We report the case of a 62-year-old woman with a 9-month history of progressive frontotemporal hair loss and hirsutism, particularly on her back, arms and forearms. Blood tests showed increased total testosterone of 5.20 nmol/L that remained elevated after an overnight dexamethasone suppression test. Free Androgen Index was 13.1 and DHEAS was repeatedly normal. Imaging examinations to study adrenals and ovaries were negative. The biochemical profile and the absence of imaging in favor of an adrenal tumor made us consider the ovarian origin as the most likely hypothesis. After informed consent, bilateral salpingectomy-oophorectomy and total hysterectomy were performed. Gross pathology revealed ovaries of increased volume and histology showed bilateral ovarian stromal hyperplasia. Testosterone levels normalized after surgery and hirsutism had completely subsided 8 months later.

Learning points:

• Menopause is a relative hyperandrogenic state

• Hirsutism and/or virilizing features, in a postmenopausal woman, should raise the hypothesis of a malignant cause

• In the absence of an identifiable ovarian or adrenal tumor, the ovarian origin remains the most likely

• Peripheral aromatization of excess androgen may conduct to high levels of estrogen increasing the risk of endometrial cancer

• Bilateral oophorectomy results in significant clinical improvement.

Summary

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is a rare inherited endocrine disorder with a high rate of penetrance. The incidence of MEN1 is 1/30,000 in the general population; however, it is quite rare for a patient to present for medical attention with MEN1 for the first time in pregnancy. Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is one of the most common features of MEN1. The incidence of PHPT occurring in pregnancy is 1%. Despite advances in the medical, surgical and obstetric care over the years, management of this condition during pregnancy may be challenging. It can be difficult to identify pregnant women with PHPT requiring intervention and to monitor safely. Hypercalcemia can result in significant maternal and fetal adverse outcomes including: miscarriage, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm delivery, neonatal hypocalcaemia, pre-eclampsia and maternal nephrolithiasis. Herein, we present a case study of a lady with a strong family history of MEN1, who was biochemically proven to have PHPT and evidence of Zollinger Ellison Syndrome (ZE) on endoscopy. This patient delayed her assisted pregnancy plans for in vitro fertilization (IVF) until completion of the MEN1 workup; nevertheless, she spontaneously achieved an unplanned pregnancy. As a result, she required intervention with parathyroidectomy in the second trimester of her pregnancy as her calcium level continued to rise. This case study highlights the workup, follow up and management of MEN1 presenting with PHPT and ZE in pregnancy.

Learning points

• Women of childbearing age who are suspected to have a diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism ideally should have genetic testing and avoid pregnancy until definitive plans are in place.

• Zollinger Ellison syndrome in pregnancy means off-label use of high dose of proton pump inhibitors (PPI). Use of PPI in pregnancy is considered to be safe based on retrospective studies. Omeprazole, however, is FDA class C drug because of lack of large prospective studies or large case series during pregnancy.

• Calcium supplements in the form of calcium carbonate must be converted to calcium chloride by gastric acid in order to be absorbed, however, patients rendered achlorhydric as a result of PPI use will have impaired absorption of calcium. Therefore, use of calcium citrate might be considered a better option in this case.

Summary

A 62-year-old patient with metastatic hypopharyngeal carcinoma underwent treatment with nivolumab, following which he developed symptoms suggestive of diabetes insipidus. Nivolumab was stopped and therapy with methylprednisolone was started. During corticosteroid therapy, the patient presented himself in poor health condition with fungal infection and glycemic decompensation. Methylprednisolone dose was tapered off, leading to the resolution of mycosis and the restoration of glycemic compensation, nevertheless polyuria and polydipsia persisted. Increase in urine osmolarity after desmopressin administration was made diagnosing central diabetes insipidus as a possibility. The neuroradiological data by pituitary MRI scan with gadolinium was compatible with coexistence of metastatic localization and infundibulo-neurohypophysitis secondary to therapy with nivolumab. To define the exact etiology of the pituitary pathology, histological confirmation would have been necessary; however, unfortunately, it was not possible. In the absence of histological confirmation, we believe it is likely that both pathologies coexisted.

Learning points:

• A remarkable risk of endocrine immune-related adverse events (irAEs) during therapy with checkpoint inhibitors exsists.

• In order to ensure maximum efficiency in the recognition and treatment of endocrine iRAes related to immune checkpoint inhibitors, multidisciplinary management of oncological patients is critical.

• The pituitary syndrome in oncological patients who underwent immunotherapy represents a challenge in the differential diagnosis between pituitary metastasis and drug-induced hypophysitis.

• This is the first case, described in the literature of diabetes insipidus in a patient suffering from nivolumab-induced infundibulo-neurohypophysitis and anterohypophyseal metastasis.

Summary

We present the case of a 47-year-old Caucasian previously healthy woman with a voluminous thyroid nodule occupying almost the entire anterior neck region. The lesion had progressively increased in size during the previous 3 months and the patient presented intermittent symptoms of dysphagia and odynophagia with a slight change in voice. Fine needle aspiration showed papillary carcinoma. Based on imaging and cytological findings, the patient underwent total thyroidectomy. The surgical sample revealed a totally enlarged thyroid gland (weight: 208 g) with the presence of a poly-lobulated lesion centrally located and involving the isthmus and both lobes. Hobnail features were present in more than 30% of the neoplastic cells in agreement with the criteria for this subtype. Psammoma bodies and focal necrosis were also present. The extra-thyroidal extension included strap muscles and peri-esophageal glands. Immunohistochemistry using VE1 antibody for detecting BRAF-V600E mutation resulted positive. The final diagnosis was papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) hobnail variant (HVPTC)-pT4a. The HVPTC is a rare entity and, in most cases, appears like a unifocal lesion with a maximum tumor size of 8 cm reported so far. To our knowledge, this represents the largest tumor ever described (14 cm), showing rapid growth and with multinodular goiter-like aspect.

Learning points:

• HVPTC is an aggressive variant of PTC, usually associated with radioactive iodine refractoriness, and a higher mortality rate compared to classic PTC. However, there is a marked individual variability in this association.

• HVPTC usually appears as small unifocal lesion but a multinodular goiter presentation may occur.

• The present case highlights that despite of the histology, our patient achieved a high ablation success rate after radioactive iodine therapy.

Summary

Molecular alterations of the transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor 1B (HNF1B) are associated with systemic disease, with kidney disease and maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) as the most characteristic manifestations. Other features comprise pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, liver and biliary anomalies, and genital tract malformations. HNF1B-associated disease is clinically heterogeneous, and therefore the diagnosis is challenging. The authors describe the case of a 19-year-old man with new-onset diabetes after kidney transplantation (NODAT). The kidney disease presented during fetal life as bilateral hyperechogenic kidneys. Renal function progressively deteriorated during childhood, and at the age of 19, the patient was submitted to a living-kidney transplant. Two weeks after transplant, NODAT developed. Given the young age and normal body weight, NODAT was unexpected, and the possibility of HNF1B-associated disease was considered. Screening for mutations in HNF1B was undertaken, and a known mutation was found. As this case highlights, HNF1B-associated disease should be considered when NODAT unexpectedly develops in young kidney transplant recipients with a suggestive renal disease.

Learning points:

• HNF1B anomalies are associated with systemic disease, including kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, liver test abnormalities and genital tract malformations.

• Phenotype is variable and there are no pathognomonic manifestations, but kidney disease appears to be the most common feature and diabetes the most frequent extra-renal phenotype.

• Spontaneous gene alterations are common, and the lack of family history should not exclude the diagnosis.

• HNF1B defects should be considered when NODAT develops in a young adult kidney transplant recipient with a suggestive kidney disease and without extensive risk factors for diabetes.

• The most appropriate treatment for HNF1B-associated diabetes is not established, but immunosuppressive therapy superimposed on a beta-cell dysfunction seems to determine the need for insulin therapy after a variable period.

• Immunosupressive regimens free of calcineurin inhibitors should be considered in patients with HNF1B-associated disease to minimize the risk of developing NODAT.

Summary

Comorbidities are a risk factor for patients with COVID-19 and the mechanisms of disease remain unclear. The aim of this paper is to present a case report of an COVID-19 patient with severe hypocalcaemia. This is a report of an 81-year-old female, suffered from myalgia and fatigue for more than 3–4 weeks. Fever and cough appear 2 days before she presented to the emergency room. On physical examination, she was febrile with a temperature of 38.8°C, accompanied by cough, sore throat, headache, fatigue, and muscle ache. Her past medical history was remarkable with no chronic disease. She had lymphopenia. Laboratory test revealed moderate liver dysfunction, hypoalbuminemia, and severe hypocalcaemia (serum corrected calcium level: 5.7  mg/dL). Parathyroid hormone (PTH) was 107.9 pg/mL (range: 15–65) and 25(OH)2D levels was 4.5 ng/mL (range: 25–80). Chest CT scan detected peripheral ground-glass opacity. Throat swab for coronavirus by RT-PCR assay tested positive for the virus. She was treated with lopinavir/ritonavir, third generation cephalosporin, anticoagulant, daily high-dose calcium acetate, vitamin D₃, fresh frozen plasma and oxygen therapy. She was discharged after two negative throat swab tests for coronavirus by conventional RT-PCR.

Learning points:

• Comorbidities are a risk factor for patients with COVID-19.

• Laboratory findings are unspecific in COVID-19 patients; laboratory abnormalities include lymphopenia, elevated of LDH, CPK and the inflammatory markers, such as C reactive protein, ferritinemia and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

• In addition to inflammatory markers, in COVID-19 patients it is crucial to check the level of vitamin D and calcium.

• There may be a correlation between vitamin D deficiency and the severity of COVID-19 disease.

Summary

We present the case of a 69-year-old woman who attended the Endocrinology Unit of Modena for a suspicious lymph node in the left cervical compartment discovered during the follow-up of a recurrent gynecological malignancy. At neck ultrasonography, a thyroid goiter was detected, and the further cytological examination was inconclusive for thyroid nodule and compatible with a localization of an adenocarcinoma with papillary architecture for the lymph node. The histological examination after a left neck dissection confirmed the presence of an intracapsular metastasis of a papillary carcinoma immunohistochemically focally positive for thyroid transcription factor 1 and paired box 8 and negative for thyroglobulin. Subsequently, in the suspicion of a thyroid primitiveness, a total thyroidectomy was performed, revealing an intraparenchymal follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma of 2 mm in the right lobe. During the follow-up, the appearance of a suspected cervical metastatic lesion led to another neck dissection, histologically compatible with a papillary carcinoma localization, immunohistochemically focally positive for thyroid transcription factor 1 and paired box 8, and negative for thyroglobulin. The histological revision of surgical specimens suggests the cervical recurrence of the prior gynecological cancer, rather than a thyroid carcinoma metastasis. The case described shows how carefully the cytological, histological and immunoistochemical results must be evaluated in oncological management, considering the whole patient’s history.

Learning points:

• Neck lymph node metastases occasionally originate from anatomically distant primary sites, such as breast, lung, gastro-intestinal tract, genito-urinary tract and CNS.

• Histological and immunohistochemical evaluations play an important role to identify the primary malignant site, although in some cases they could mislead the clinicians.

• A multidisciplinary approach and the evaluation of the whole medical history of the patient are mandatory to guide the diagnostic-therapeutic path and to avoid unnecessary treatments.

Summary

SOX5 plays an important role in chondrogenesis and chondrocyte differentiation. SOX5 defects in humans (often deletions) result in a Lamb-Shaffer syndrome (LSS), presenting with speech delay, behavioral problems and minor dysmorphic features. We present a patient with idiopathic short stature (ISS) who carried a heterozygous novel variant in SOX5. The patient had no dysmorphic features, but a skeletal survey revealed minor skeletal abnormalities. Laboratory and endocrine evaluation for known causes of growth disorders was negative. The missense variant in SOX5 gene (c.1783A>G, p.K595E) was de novo and was predicted to be deleterious by in silico programs. In summary, we present a patient whose presentation may provide evidence that gene defects in SOX5 may contribute to the etiology of short stature and/or mild skeletal defects beyond LSS.

Learning points:

• We report a girl with idiopathic short stature and mild skeletal defects presenting with a de novo variant in SOX5 gene, predicted in silico to be deleterious.

• Although SOX5 has not been previously specifically associated with short stature, several evidences support its contributing effect on dyschondrogenesis.

• Missense variants in SOX5 gene may lead to mild phenotypes, differing from typical presentation of patients with Lamb-Shaffer syndrome.

Learning points:

• Infiltrating metastases into pituitary adenomas are very rare but do occur.

• To our knowledge this is the third case of breast adenocarcinoma metastasising to a gonadotroph pituitary adenoma.

• Pituitary metastases should always be considered in rapidly evolving pituitary symptoms in a cancer patient.

• Not all complex pituitary lesions are associated with panhypopituitarism.

• Early invasive local management (TSS and post TSS radiotherapy) can provide rapid satisfactory outcomes.