0000000000409715
AUTHOR
Krause U
Ciclosporin and prednisone v. prednisone in treatment of Graves' ophthalmopathy: a controlled, randomized and prospective study.
Forty patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy stages III-V were divided into two groups in a random manner according to their year of birth. Group I received prednisone in decreasing dosage. Group II received prednisone at a comparable dosage and ciclosporin. Steroids were discontinued after 10 weeks in the two groups. In the patients of group II, ciclosporin was continued over 12 months. The therapeutic effect was assessed by an activity score based on subjective and objective symptoms (computerized tomography and sonography of the orbit, Hertel values, clinical findings). All signs of endocrine ophthalmopathy improved significantly in both groups (P less than 0.01 in group I; P less than 0.0…
The Effect of High Parathyroid Hormone Concentration on Calcitonin in Patients with Primary Hyperparathyroidism2)
Serum calcitonin (CT), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and calcium levels were measured in 23 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism. PTH was determined by a midregion (M-RIA) and a carboxyl-terminal (C-RIA) specific PTH-RIA. Only 2 patients had elevated CT levels. In contrast to the findings in 46 healthy controls, the CT levels did not correlate with calcium levels. Patients who had the highest iPTH values showed a negative correlation between CT and iPTH (M-RIA (n = 7): R = -1.0000, p less than 0.001; C-RIA (n = 13): R = -0.5604, p less than 0.05). The results of the C-RIA were subtracted from those of the M-RIA. In 12 patients with the highest levels of intact PTH (M-RIA - C-RIA), serum P…
Time-related effects of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) on the pituitary-thyroid axis and extrathyroidal targets.
Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) is a tripeptide and acts as a stimulator of the pituitary-thyroid axis as well as having a great number of well defined extrathyroidal functions. Studies in experimental animals have shown, that TRH also has a role as a neuromodulator within the autonomous nervous system. In this study we analyzed the effects following peripheral administration of TRH (200 micrograms, 400 micrograms) in patients with endocrinological disorders and in healthy females and males. By means of a questionnaire, patients were asked about possible (side-) effects; ventilatory and cardiovascular monitoring was performed during steady state. The pulsatile TSH-secretion pattern was …