Vascular Diseases of the Endocrine Organs: Special Considerations

Abstract

The endocrine glands are highly vascular organs in order to allow the hormones they secrete to reach the circulation and their targets. Thus, vascular disorders, mainly hemorrhages, may occur in any gland. While a gonadal or thyroid hemorrhage will usually present with local signs and symptoms, specific enough to direct the patient to a urologist/andrologist, gynecologist, or internist/endocrinologist, and is not associated with acute hormonal deficiencies which are life threatening, a massive adrenal or pituitary vascular insult is clinically much more cryptic and may be fatal if the cortisol insufficiency which ensues is not promptly treated with high-dose IV glucocorticoids. This section will deal with these two entities.