Identifying Clinical Characteristics of Hypoparathyroidism in Turkey: HIPOPARATURK-NET Study

Hypoparathyroidism is an orphan disease with ill-defined epidemiology that is subject to geographic variability. We conducted this study to assess the demographics, etiologic distribution, treatment patterns and complication frequency of patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism in Turkey. This is a retrospective, cross-sectional database study, with collaboration of 30 endocrinology centers located in 20 cities across seven geographical regions of Turkey. A total of 830 adults (mean age 49.6 ± 13.5 years; female 81.2%) with hypoparathyroidism (mean duration 9.7 ± 9.0 years) were included in the final analysis. Hypoparathyroidism was predominantly surgery-induced (n = 686, 82.6%). The insulting surgeries was carried out mostly due to benign causes in postsurgical group (SG) (n = 504, 73.5%) while patients in nonsurgical group (NSG) was most frequently classified as idiopathic (n = 103, 71.5%). The treatment was highly dependent on calcium salts (n = 771, 92.9%), calcitriol (n = 786, 94.7%) and to a lower extent cholecalciferol use (n = 635, 76.5%) while the rate of parathyroid hormone (n = 2, 0.2%) use was low. Serum calcium levels were most frequently kept in the normal range (sCa 8.5–10.5 mg/dL, n = 383, 46.1%) which might be higher than desired for this patient group. NSG had a lower mean plasma PTH concentration (6.42 ± 5.53 vs. 9.09 ± 7.08 ng/l, p < 0.0001), higher daily intake of elementary calcium (2038 ± 1214 vs. 1846 ± 1355 mg/day, p = 0.0193) and calcitriol (0.78 ± 0.39 vs. 0.69 ± 0.38 mcg/day, p = 0.0057), a higher rate of chronic renal disease (9.7% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.0017), epilepsy (6.3% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.0009), intracranial calcifications (11.8% vs. 7.3%, p < 0.0001) and cataracts (22.2% vs. 13.7%, p = 0.0096) compared to SG. In conclusion, postsurgical hypoparathyroidism is the dominant etiology of hypoparathyroidism in Turkey while the nonsurgical patients have a higher disease burden with greater need for medications and increased risk of complications than the postsurgical patients. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Endokrinolojide Yapay Zeka Uygulamaları

Canlıların merkezi sinir sistemlerindeki öğrenme mekanizmalarını taklit etme esasına dayalı bir yaklaşım olan yapay zeka, son yıllarda birçok farklı alanda hayatımıza girmiş durumdadır. Endokrinoloji ve metabolizma hastalıkları da yapay zekanın uygulama alanı bulduğu bir mecradır. Bu makalede yapay zekanın bir taksonomisinin yanı sıra endokrinoloji ve metabolizma hastalıklarındaki mevcut ve potansiyel/olası uygulama alanları sunulmakta ve tartışılmaktadır

Neuropsychological Changes and Health-related Quality of Life in Patients with Asymptomatic Primary Hyperparathyroidism

Purpose: Data about neuropsychological impairment and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism (APHPT) is limited. We aimed to investigate the HRQOL, neuropyschological impairment, including depression, anxiety in patients with APHPT who have mildly elevated serum calcium (Ca) levels. Material and Method: Thirty-seven patients with APHPT and 37 controls were included. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the General Health Questionnaire were administered in all patients, HRQOL was investigated using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Results: Serum levels of Ca and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were significantly higher in patients than in controls [(10.92 +/- 0.66 vs. 9.49 +/- 0.66, p= 0.016, and 133 (34-736) vs. 52.95 (25-75.50), p< 0.001), respectively]. The levels of serum vitamin D were lower in patients than in controls [12.85 (4.0-62.50) vs. 20.30 (5.90-55.00), p= 0.041)]. The patient group had higher BDI scores than controls (12.49 +/- 10.34 vs. 7.46 +/- 5.33, p= 0.011). Patients with APHPT showed lower scores in SF-36 mental health (60.55 +/- 20.75 vs. 69.62 +/- 14.31, p= 0.034), SF-36 physical functioning (55.83 +/- 27.30 vs. 75.67 +/- 24.18, p= 0.002), SF-36 social functioning (66.32 +/- 27.69 vs. 82.08 +/- 14.89, p= 0.003), and SF-36 emotional role functioning (42.55 +/- 37.85 vs. 69.30 +/- 35.43, p= 0.003). The patients showed higher STAI-1 scores (39.95 +/- 11.52 vs. 34.70 +/- 8.01, p= 0.026). We observed that STAI-1 score positively correlated with serum Ca level (r= 0.391; p= 0.018); and PTH (r= 0.341; p= 0.042). Discussion: Our study demonstrated that patients with APHPT have more depressive and anxiety symptoms and lower HRQOL. Our results suggest that HRQOL and neuropsychological changes should also be considered during the clinical follow-up of patients with APHT