[INTRODUCTION - Children with pituitary insufficiency normally receive growth hormone and thyroid hormone substitution, but glucocorticoid treatment is rarely necessary. Sex hormone replacement is introduced in puberty, which, at the same time, promotes growth and bone maturation. In this study the effect of testosterone replacement on bone mineral content was examined. PATIENTS AND METHODS - Nine boys (16.3±1.3 years) with hypopituitarism were involved in the study who had been receiving growth hormone and thyroid hormone replacement for several years by the beginning of the study.Androgen was substituted by the intramuscular administration of 50 mg testosterone biweekly.The children's height,weight, the rate of pubescence, and bone age were checked, and bone mineral density was measured by single photon absorptiometry every six month. During the substitution treatment serum thyroxin and testosterone levels remained in the normal ranges. RESULTS - A significant increase in bone mineral density was observed during the testosterone treatment, with Z-scores -1.80, -0.91 and +0.14 at baseline, 12 and 24 months, respectively (p<0,001). Z-scores adjusted for bone age remained in the normal range throughout the study (-0.904 at baseline and -0.946 at one year). CONCLUSION - The increase rate of bone mineral density (0.16 g/cm/year) was significantly higher compared both to the normal reference in this age group (0.07 g/cm/yr, p=0.0015) and to the normal reference relative to their bone age (p<0.0006). The increase in bone mineral density suggests that testosterone replacement has an important role both in the quantitative and qualitative development of bones.]

[INTRODUCTION - The incidence of renal stone formation was studied in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism after parathyroidectomy. PATIENTS AND METHODS - Ninety-two patients operated on for hyperparathyroidism were included in the study. In Group 1 the patients (n=44) had kidney stones before parathyroidectomy. Patients with no history of nephrolithiasis (n=48) before the operation were assigned to Group 2. After the operation the occurrence of renal stones was assessed for both groups.The presence of any association between the recurrence of renal stones and various clinical parameters was analysed. RESULTS - The serum concentration of Ca and parathormone decreased to the normal range in both groups after the operation. Stone formation was observed in nine cases in five patients during follow-up. All five patients belonged to Group 1.Thirty-three % of these recurrent stones were diagnosed within the first year and 89% within 5 years. Statistical analysis did not reveal any significant association between recurrent stone formation and gender, age, preoperative serum levels of Ca and parathormone or the histology of parathyroid glands. CONCLUSION - The incidence of recurrent renal stones after successful parathyroidectomy significantly decreased in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism.]

[INTRODUCTION -The pathomechanism of hepatic osteopathy is not fully understood.We investigated how bone parameters change in growing rats with experimentally induced fatty liver, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. METHODS - Liver disease was induced by administration of CCl4 and phenobarbital (PB) following a single injection of diethylnitrosamine (DEN) in 55 Fischer 344 rats.Animals were sacrificed and their femur removed at week 8 or 16. Bone mineral content (BMC), femoral length, cortical index (ratio of cortical thickness and total diameter at the diaphysis) and ultimate bending load (Fmax) of femora were determined. Results of animals treated with DEN+PB+CCl4 (group DPC, n=21) were compared to untreated animals (n=14) and to a second control group treated only with DEN+PB (group DP, n=20). RESULTS - Fatty liver and cirrhosis developed in each animal in the DPC group (n=21) at week 8 and in a subgroup of these animals (n=11) hepatocellular carcinoma also appeared by week 16. No changes in bone parameters were observed in this group at week 8, but lower BMD, femoral length, cortical index and Fmax values were found at week 16 compared to the untreated controls or to the DP group (p<0.05 for both). In the DP group no fatty liver or cirrhosis was observed at any time. Femoral length and Fmax values were higher in the DP group at week 8 compared to the untreated controls (p<0.05 for both).At week 16, however, no difference could be detected. CONCLUSION - Experimentally induced liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma are associated with growth inhibition and reduced bone mineral content, cortical index and mechanical resistance in growing rats.]

[INTRODUCTION - The majority of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism recurrently produce kidney stones, while the rest have other clinical manifestations (metabolic bone disease, acute pancreatitis, depression, etc.).The aim of this study was to examine whether there is any association between the clinical symptoms and the location of adenoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS - The records of 91 patients (10 males, 81 females, mean age: 61.9 years, range: 20-70 ys) operated for primary hyperparathyroidism between 1995 and 2000 were retrospectively evaluated. One patient was excluded from the study because of parathyroid cancer. Nephrolithiasis was noted in 55 cases and other clinical symptoms in 35 cases. The diagnosis of pHPT was confirmed by the surgery, which also determined the precise location of the adenoma. RESULTs - In the kidney stone group, the adenoma was located in the left inferior parathyroid gland in 50 cases (91 %), (χ2=67.5, p<0,00001), in the left superior parathyroid gland in 2 patients, while in 3 patients multiple hyperplasia was found. In the group without nephrolithiasis the adenoma was located in the right inferior parathyroid gland in 24 patients (69 %), (χ2=43.9, p<0,0001), while in 3 patients each it was detected in the left and right superior parathyroid gland, respectively. Multiple hyperplasia was also observed in 3 patients and ectopic location in 2 patients. CONCLUSION - The results raise the possibility that the clinical manifestation of the pHPT, i.e., whether it is or is not accompanied with nephrolithiasis, may be influenced by the location of the adenoma.This suggests that either the biological effects of the parathyroid hormone or its biologically active hormone fragments are different according to in which of the four glands it is produced.Therefore, we recommend that in patients with kidney stones where the preoperative imaging fails to reveal the location of the adenoma, during surgery the search for the adenoma should be started at the left inferior parathyroid gland.]