The obesity pandemic is accompanied by increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome (MetS) and related conditions: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular (CV) disease (CVD). Lifestyle, as well as an imbalance of energy intake/expenditure, genetic predisposition, and epigenetics could lead to a dysmetabolic milieu, which is the cornerstone for the development of cardiometabolic complications. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (RAs) and dual glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP)/GLP-1 RAs promote positive effects on most components of the “ cardiometabolic continuum” and consequently help reduce the need for polypharmacy. In this review, we highlight the main pathophysiological mechanisms and risk factors (RFs), that could be controlled by GLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 RAs independently or through synergism or differences in their mode of action. We also address the evidence on the use of GLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 RAs in the treatment of obesity, MetS and its related conditions (prediabetes, T2DM and NAFLD/NASH). In conclusion, GLP-1 RAs have already been established for the treatment of T2DM, obesity and cardioprotection in T2DM patients, while dual GIP/GLP-1 RAs appear to have the potential to possibly surpass them for the same indications. However, their use in the prevention of T2DM and the treatment of complex cardiometabolic metabolic diseases, such as NAFLD/NASH or other metabolic disorders, would benefit from more evidence and a thorough clinical patient-centered approach. There is a need to identify those patients in whom the metabolic component predominates, and whether the benefits outweigh any potential harm.

Objective The purpose of the study was to compare the long‐term outcomes of patients with localized adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) subjected to open vs laparoscopic surgery. Design Retrospective study. Patients This retrospective study included 46 patients with the ACC ENSAT stage I‐stage III of whom 23 underwent open surgery (OA group), whereas 23 were subjected to laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA group). The main outcomes analysed in the study were differences between the OA and LA groups in recurrence‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Results Patients in OA group had larger tumours (120 [70‐250] mm vs 75 [26‐110] mm; P < .001), higher Ki‐67 index (16 [1‐65] % vs 10 [1‐25] %; P = .04) and higher disease stage (P = .01) compared with the patients in the LA group. The median duration of follow‐up for patients underwent OA and LA was 51 (12‐174) and 53 (5‐127) months, respectively. Eight patients (5 OA and 3 LA) experienced recurrent disease, whereas six patients (3 OA and 3 LA) died during follow‐up. No differences in RFS and OS were found between patients who underwent open or laparoscopic surgery. Conclusion The study demonstrated that in patients with localized ACC and without invasion of extra‐adrenal tissues, LA is a plausible treatment option in terms of RFS and OS. However, our results are limited to referral centres with large experience in the management of patients with ACC and may not necessarily apply to nonspecialized centres.

No abstract

Objective: Indices based on aldosterone/cortisol (A/C) concentration in the successfully cannulated adrenal vein (AV) and in the inferior vena cava (IVC) (AV/ IVC) appear to be possible markers to verify the subtype of primary aldosteronism (PA) in the case of inconclusive results of adrenal vein sampling (AVS). The variability of results in previous studies encouraged us to calculate AV/IVC and adrenal A/C cutoff values that could predict the aetiology of PA. Methods: This retrospective study included 96 patients who underwent AVS due to PA between 2015 and 2020. The derivation cohort ultimately consisted of 60 patients with bilaterally successful AVS and a clear diagnosis of unilateral or bilateral disease. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to find the optimal A/C and AV/IVC cutoff values predicting the subtype of PA. The validation cohort consisted of 11 patients with either unsuccessful cannulation or a borderline lateralization index (LI), those patients underwent adrenalectomy because their indices were suggestive of unilateral disease based on the derivation cohort data. Results:The cutoff values of A/C ≤ 0.63 or AV/IVC ≤ 0.37 identified unaffected glands with a sensitivity of 91.2% and 97.1%, respectively, and a specificity of 90.7% and 88.4%, respectively. Unilateral ipsilateral gland involvement was characterized by A/C ≥ 3.5 or AV/IVC ≥ 3.4 with a corresponding specificity of 100%. All patients in the validation cohort achieved biochemical remission postoperatively.Conclusions: A/C and AV/IVC cutoff values could be a useful tool to determine the subtype of PA in patients with unilateral successful AVS as well as in patients with a borderline LI.

In our cohort of patients with pituitary tumors who underwent GKRS, 30% developed new hypopituitarism during the follow-up period.