ABSTRACT
Thrombotic microangiopathies represent a group of particularly serious pathologies that can cause a rapid worsening of renal function, especially in young subjects. Through the clinical case described, we will focus our attention on the clinical and laboratory manifestations of the pathology, on the diagnostics and on the therapies to be used. Recent therapeutic innovations for the treatment of this pathology will also be analysed.
Subject(s)
Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome , Headache , Hypertension , Humans , Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome/complications , Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome/diagnosis , Headache/etiology , Hypertension/complications , Hypertension/etiology , Male , FemaleABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Cushing syndrome (CS) has been described as a killing disease due its cardiovascular complications. In fact, chronic cortisol excess leads to a constellation of complications, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, adiposity, and thromboembolism. The main vascular alteration associated with CS is atherosclerosis. METHODS: Aim of this study was to analyze carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and ankle-brachial index (ABI), two surrogate markers of subclinical atherosclerosis in a consecutive series of CS patients, compared to patients with essential hypertension (EH) and health subjects (HS). RESULTS: Patients with CS showed a significant increase (P<0.05) of cIMT (0.89+/-0.17 mm) compared to EH (0.81+/-0.16 mm) and HS (0.75+/-0.4 mm), with a high prevalence of plaque (23%; P<0.03). Moreover, CS patients showed a mean ABI values (1.07+/-0.02) significantly lower respect to HS (1.12+/-0.11; P<0.05), and a higher percentage (20%) of pathological values of ABI (< or =0.9; P<0.03). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we confirmed and extended the data of cIMT in CS, and showed that the ABI represent another surrogate marker of subclinical atherosclerosis in this disease.