Objective:To summarize experience of managing adult Langerhans cell histiocytosis(LCH) in hypothalamic-pituitary region(HPR) from Shanghai Huashan Hospital.Methods:Adult HPR-LCH patients diagnosed at oar endocrinology department from January 2013 to February 2022 were included. Clinical characteristics and treatment response were retrospectively analyzed.Results:A total of 27 adult HPR-LCH patients were included, with 14 cases involving the hypothalamus(H group) and 13 cases without(group NH). The common radiological findings included thickening of the pituitary stalk(25/27, 92.6%). At the time of diagnosis, 14 cases(51.9%) presented with panhypopituitarism, and 19 cases(70.4%) exhibited metabolic abnormalities. The group H had higher proportions of adrenal insufficiency, central hypothyroidism, panhypopituitarism, and diabetes compared to group NH(78.6% vs 23.1%; 78.6% vs 23.1%; 92.9% vs 30.8%, 35.7% vs 0%, respectively, all P<0.05). Hypothalamus syndrome was identified in 71.4%(10/14) of group H. The inital diagnosis rate was 79.2%(19/24), with 48.1% and 51.9% through biopsy of sellar and extrasellar lesions, respectively. Repeated biopsies confirmed the diagnosis in 25.9%(7/27) of cases. The peripheral lesions included bone, thyroid, lung, lymph node, thymus and liver. Out of 20 cases treated with chemotherapy, the objective response rate was 85% at 12 weeks. Four cases received local therapy, one case received traditional Chinese medicine treatment, one case abandoned treatment, and one case was lost to follow-up. The median follow-up time was 28(range 15 to 54) months. During this period, there were 3 deaths in group H and 1 death in group NH. Conclusion:Adult HPR-LCH patients presented with diabetes insipidus and high prevalences of hypopituitarism, hypothalamus syndrome and metabolic abnormalities. Typical imaging features were pituitary stalk thickening. A solitary mass in the HPR was usually very small, posing a great challenge for early diagnosis. Systemic evaluation would help to clarify the diagnosis. Patients with hypothalamus involvement had a higher mortality rate, suggesting the hypothalamus as a risk organ with poor prognosis.

Objective:To investigate the effect of somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) on bone metabolism in patients with acromegaly.Methods:Retrospective analysis of clinical data of acromegaly patients( n=100) received surgery or SRLs alone for 3 months. The changes of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), osteocalcin (OC), N-mid fragment of osteocalcin (N-MID), amino-terminal peptide of type I procollagen (P1NP) and C-terminal peptide degradation product of type I collagen(CTX) were compared before and after treatment. Patients were divided into drug treatment group and surgical group according to treatment methods. According to the decline of GH after medication, patients in the drug treatment group were further divided into drug sensitive group and drug insensitive group. Results:The average dynamic GH and IGF-1 indexes in the drug treatment group were significantly decreased after treatment compared with before treatment (both P<0.05), and CTX was also significantly decreased after treatment [1.25 (0.67, 1.40) ng/mL vs 1.34 (0.57, 1.68) ng/mL, P<0.05]. The mean dynamic GH, IGF-1 index, OC, N-MID, P1NP, and CTX in surgical group were significantly decreased after treatment compared with before treatment (all P<0.01). In the surgical group, there was a positive correlation between GH difference (ΔGH) and N-mid difference (ΔN-MID; r=0.454, P=0.026), and there was a positive correlation between IGF-1 index difference (ΔIGF-1 index) and CTX difference (ΔCTX; r=0.339, P=0.036). After treatment, the mean dynamic GH, IGF-1 index, CTX, P1NP, and N-MID in drug treatment group were significantly higher than those in surgical group (all P<0.001). CTX and N-MID decreased significantly after treatment in drug sensitive group compared with drug insensitive group (35.3% vs 7.2%, P<0.001; 24.1% vs 11.8%, P<0.05), and ΔGH was positively correlated with ΔCTX ( r=0.328, P=0.004). Conclusion:SRLs treatment can reduce bone formation marker N-MID and bone resorption marker CTX, improving the high turnover state of bone metabolism in patients with acromegaly, which may attribute to the reduction of GH and IGF-1 levels.

  Objective  To analyze the clinical characteristics of thyroid LCH to enhance understanding of the disease.  Methods  We retrospectively studied the clinical data from six thyroid LCH patients who hospitalized in Huashan Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University from January 2015 to January 2022.We analyzed the ultrasound and ¹⁸F FDG-PET/CT imaging characteristics of thyroid LCH.  Results  The six patients diagnosed (2 males and 4 females) were between 18 and 58 years old.All patients had diabetes insipidus.MRI revealed thickened pituitary stalk.Two cases had central hypothyroidism, while four cases euthyroidism.Three cases tested positive for thyroid antibodies.Ultrasound showed thyroid nodules of TI-RADS 3 in three cases, TI-RADS 4 in two cases, and 1 with nodular goiter.Ultrasound showed that all sic cases indicated low echogenicity, 5 of which clear boundaries, 4 of which uneven echo distribution, 5 of which irregular shape, and noen has calcification.¹⁸F FDG-PET/CT indicated high uptake nodules with SUVmax values all above 10.4 cases were diagnosed by surgical excision and the other 2 by coarse-needle aspiration biopsy.When diagnosed, two cases had liver and thymus involvement respectively.One case had lung and bone involvement respectively.After treatment, 4 cases showed that nodular goiter shrank, while the other two with liver involvement progressed fast and no assessment made.  Conclusions  Thyroid LCH presented low echogenicity, clear boundaries, irregular shape, without calcification, and high uptake in ¹⁸F FDG-PET/CT.A definite diagnosis of pituitary stalk thicking accompanied by thyroid nodules, especially those with hypoechoic and irregular nodules, can be achieved by coarse-needle aspiration biopsy and langerin-specific pathological staining.