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Summary
Carney complex (CNC) is a rare autosomal dominant syndrome characterized by pigmented lesions of the skin and mucosae along with cardiac, endocrine, cutaneous, and neural myxomatous tumors. Mutations in the PRKAR1A gene have been identified in ∼70% of the CNC cases reported worldwide. A 30-year-old male was referred to the endocrinology clinic with suspected acromegaly. He had a history of recurrent atrial myxoma for the past 8 years for which he underwent repeated surgeries. Presently, he complained of having headache, excessive snoring, sweating, and also noticed increase in his shoe size. Evaluation for acromegaly revealed elevated levels of GH in random as well as in suppressed condition. Magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed enlarged sella with microadenoma in the left anterior pituitary. Screening of PRKAR1A gene was carried out for the patient, his parents and siblings who were available and willing to undergo the test. The patient was diagnosed to have the rare CNC syndrome characterized by recurrent atrial myxoma and acromegaly due to a novel 22 bp insertion mutation in PRKAR1A which was predicted to be deleterious by in silico analysis. Screening the available family members revealed the absence of this mutation in them except the elder brother who also tested positive for this mutation. The present study reports on a novel PRKAR1A insertion mutation in a patient with acromegaly and left atrial myxoma in CNC.
Learning points
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Identification of a novel deleterious PRKAR1A insertion mutation causing CNC.
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It is important that patients with cardiac myxoma be investigated for presence of endocrine overactivity suggestive of CNC.
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PRKAR1A mutation analysis should be undertaken in such cases to confirm the diagnosis in the patients as well as first degree relatives.
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This case highlights an important aspect of diagnosis, clinical course, and management of this rare condition.
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Summary
We describe the clinical presentation, diagnostic and management issues in five cases of non-islet cell tumor hypoglycemia (NICTH), diagnosed at a tertiary care institute over a period of 15 years. The clinical, laboratory, and histopathological findings of these patients along with diagnostic utility of IGF2:IGF1 ratio are discussed. The mean age of presentation was 52 years, with a male predominance (3:2). Three patients presented with recurrent episodes of fasting hypoglycemia and it was detected in other two patients during hospitalization. Two patients had acromegaloid features that regressed following treatment. One patient had hypokalemia. Low levels of insulin, C-peptide, GH, and IGF1 were invariably found in all. The IGF2 level was elevated in only one patient; however, IGF2:IGF1 ratio was more than 10 in four of the five patients. The mean tumor size was 16.4 cm and mean weight was 3.6 kg. Four patients had mesenchymal tumors and one had epithelial tumor. NICTH is a rare cause of hypoglycemia. Hypoinsulinemic hypoglycemia with low IGF1 and IGF2:IGF1 ratio more than 10 is suggestive of this entity.
Learning points
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NICTH should be considered in patients presenting with tumor of mesenchymal origin and hypoglycemia.
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Hypoinsulinemic hypoglycemia with low IGF1 is a strong biochemical evidence of NICTH.
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IGF2:IGF1 ratio of more than 10 is a complementary investigation in the absence of an assay facility for IGF2.
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Summary
A 21-year-old female patient recently diagnosed with severe hypothyroidism was found to have a large ovarian cyst. In view of the large ovarian cyst, she was advised to undergo elective laparotomy in the gynaecology department. She was further evaluated in our medical out-patient department (OPD), and elective surgery was withheld. She was started on thyroxine replacement therapy, and within a period of 4 months, the size of the cyst regressed significantly, thereby improving the condition of the patient significantly. This case report highlights the rare and often missed association between hypothyroidism and ovarian cysts. Although very rare, profound hypothyroidism that can cause ovarian cysts in an adult should always be kept in the differential diagnosis to avoid unnecessary ovarian surgery.
Learning points
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Hypothyroidism should be considered in the differential diagnosis of adult females presenting with multicystic ovarian tumours.
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Adequate thyroid hormone replacement therapy can prevent these patients from undergoing unnecessary and catastrophic ovarian resection.
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Surgical excision should be considered only when adequate thyroid replacement therapy fails to resolve ovarian enlargement.
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In younger women with ovarian cysts, it is also desirable to avoid unnecessary surgery so as to not compromise fertility in the future.
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Summary
Ovarian steroid cell tumors are very rare functioning sex-cord stromal tumors. They comprise <0.1% of all ovarian tumors. Previously designated as lipoid cell tumors, one-third of these tumors are considered malignant with the mean age of presentation at around 40 years. We present a case of a 28-year-old female with 2-year history of hirsutism, virilization, and amenorrhea. She was diagnosed with left ovarian tumor, for which she underwent left salpingo-oophorectomy. Histopathology revealed not otherwise specified subtype of steroid cell tumors. The patient resumed menses 2 months after the features of masculinization regressed. Within 1 year of surgery, the patient successfully conceived a full-term baby without any complications. In a young female, the neoplastic etiology of a rapid virilization or menses changing should always be kept in mind. Though commonly observed in adult females, steroid cell tumors have very good surgical outcomes if age at presentation is less and tumor is unilateral, and there are no evidences of bilateral malignancy. Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is not required.
Learning points
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In a case of severe rapid hirsutism and virilization with serum testosterone level more than 200 ng/dl or more than threefold of the normal range, neoplastic conditions should always be suspected.
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Steroid cell tumor in young women without evidence of malignancy on histopathology has excellent surgical outcomes.
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Unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is the surgery of choice.
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As the frequency of bilateralism is only 6%, prophylactic unaffected side oophorectomy need not be done.
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Summary
Parathyroid cysts are rare (0.8–3.41% of all parathyroid lesions) and usually arise secondary to cystic degeneration of parathyroid adenomas. Intrathyroidal parathyroid cysts are extremely rare with only three cases reported till date. We present a 24-year-old female with clinical and biochemical features of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT; Ca2 +: 12.1 mg/dl; intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH): 1283 pg/ml) and poor radiotracer uptake with minimal residual uptake in the left thyroid lobe at 2 and 4 h on Tc99m sestamibi imaging. Neck ultrasonography (USG) revealed 0.6×1 cm parathyroid posterior left lobe of thyroid along with 22×18 mm simple thyroid cyst. USG-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and needle tip iPTH estimation (FNA-iPTH) from parathyroid lesion was inconclusive (114 pg/ml), necessitating FNA of thyroid cyst, which revealed high iPTH (3480 pg/ml) from the aspirate. The patient underwent a left hemithyroidectomy. A >50% drop in serum iPTH 20 min after left hemithyroidectomy (29.4 pg/ml) along with histopathology suggestive of intrathyroidal cystic parathyroid adenoma (cystic lesion lined by chief cell variant parathyroid cells without any nuclear atypia, capsular or vascular invasion surrounded by normal thyroid follicles) confirmed that the parathyroid cyst was responsible for PHPT. This report highlights the importance of FNA-iPTH in localizing and differentiating a functional parathyroid lesion from nonfunctional tissue in PHPT.
Learning points
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Fine-needle aspiration from suspected parathyroid lesion and needle tip iPTH (FNA-iPTH) estimation from the saline washing has an important role in localizing primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT).
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FNA-iPTH estimation may help in differentiating functional from nonfunctional parathyroid lesion responsible for PHPT.
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iPTH estimation from aspirate of an intrathyroid cyst is helpful in differentiating intrathyroidal parathyroid cyst from thyroid cyst.
