ABSTRACT High blood pressure (BP) is not restricted to adults; children and adolescents may also be affected, albeit less frequently. Aside from unfavorable environmental factors, such as obesity and sedentary life leading to early-onset essential hypertension (HT), several secondary causes must be investigated in the occasional hypertensive child/adolescent. Endocrine causes are relevant and multiple, related to the pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, gonads, insulin, and others, but generally are associated with adrenal disease. This common scenario has several vital components, such as […]

The aim of this study is to present the experience of applying hypoglycemia evaluation protocol. We performed a prospective study with 13 children with hypoglycemia symptoms at the Hospital of Clinicas of Porto Alegre, with range age 5.3 ± 4.5 months and eight patients are female. The patients had been submitted to glucagon fasting test and blood glucose, lactate, pH, C peptide, insulin, fatty acids, TSH, GH, cortisol, and urine ketones were measured. Eight patients presented persistent hypoglycemia and five […]

Thyroid tumors are rare in childhood and adolescence. A retrospective analysis was done of fifteen patients (8 female) with thyroid carcinoma attended in the Pediatric Endocrinology Unit of the HC-UFPR, from February 1988 to March 2003. The most frequent initial complaint was an anterior cervical nodule. Ten patients were papillary carcinoma (PTC) bearers, four had medullary carcinoma (MTC; three of them with MEN-2B) and one had follicular carcinoma. Two patients with MEN-2B have de novo proto-oncogene RET mutation (Met918Thr). Fine […]

Adrenocortical tumors (ACT) in children are uncommon. However, the incidence of these tumors in Paraná, Brazil, is 15 times higher than that worldwide. We describe the clinical, laboratory and treatment characteristics and outcome of 125 patients treated in a single institution in the State of Paraná. The median age at diagnosis was 4.3 years, with a female:male ratio of 2.6:1. The most common forms of presentation were isolated virilization (51.2%) and virilization and Cushing’s syndrome (42%). Nonfunctioning tumors comprised 4.8% […]

Primary adrenal insufficiency is a rare pediatric condition, which can be presented as chronic or acute forms, especially during stress. The clinical features are unspecific and include weakness, nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, arterial hypotension, hypoglycemia and dehydration. The etiology can be acquired such as infectious, hemorrhagic and drug-induced disorders, or be dependent on a genetic origin, such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Addison’s disease, congenital adrenal hypoplasia, adrenoleucodystrophy, or deposit disorders of the adrenal gland. The familial history, […]