Endocrine pathology in spinal cord injured patients on maintenance dialysis

ABSTRACT We studied the histopathological changes of the thyroid, adrenal and parathyroid glands, testes and pancreata in 15 patients with end-stage renal disease associated with

long-standing spinal cord injury. All patients were males aged 42.7 ± 9.4 years and were treated with maintenance haemodialysis for 20.4 ± 17.7 months. Thyroid amyloidosis was present in

eight of 12 glands and was extensive in four and moderate in four. Thyromegaly was noted in five of the glands with amyloid involvement. Of the 30 available adrenal glands, 26 showed amyloid

involvement which was extensive in ten and moderate in 16. Of 18 testes examined all exhibited marked atrophy, decreased or absent spermatogenesis and marked peritubular and interstitial

fibrosis. Amyloid involvement was also noted in two subjects. Pancreata were examined in 15 subjects with amyloidosis and pancreatitis noted in eight and four glands, respectively. Of the 22

parathyroid glands examined in nine subjects, hyperplasia was noted in 13 glands (four patients) and moderate amyloidosis was noted in six glands (two patients). Our results demonstrate a

high prevalence of endocrine organ pathology in dialysis patients with longstanding spinal cord injury. Functional significance of these pathological findings is unclear and requires further

investigation. SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS SPINAL CORD COMPRESSION IN DIALYSIS-RELATED UPPER CERVICAL AMYLOIDOMA – A CASE REPORT Article 25 May 2021 ASYMPTOMATIC SECONDARY

HYPERPARATHYROIDISM CAN MIMIC SACROILIITIS ON COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY Article Open access 22 February 2021 EVALUATING INITIAL SCREENING PRACTICES FOR CALCIUM DYSREGULATION AFTER ACUTE TRAUMATIC

SPINAL CORD INJURY: A RETROSPECTIVE REVIEW Article Open access 31 July 2024 ARTICLE PDF REFERENCES * Chen, J C, Vidt, D G, Zorn, E M, Hallberg, M C & Wieland, R G (1970).

Pituitary-leydig cell function in uremic males. _J. Clin. Endocr. Metab._, 31, 14–17. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Claus-Walker, J, Scurry, M, Carter, R E & Campos, R J (1977). Steady

state hormonal secretion in traumatic paraplegia. _J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab._, 44, 530–535. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Claus-Walker, J, Campos, R J & Carter, R E (1972). Calcium

excretion in quadriplegics. _Arch. of Phys. Med. Rehab._, 53, 14–20. CAS  Google Scholar  * Feldman, H A & Singer, I (1975). Endocrinology and metabolism in uremia and dialysis: a

clinical review. _Medicine_, 54, 345–376. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Francois, N, Maury Cukier, J, Jouannet, D & David, G (1977). L’electroejaculation chez le paraplegique. Premiere

resultats et premiere grossesse. _Forum European sur la Sexualite des Handicapes Physiques_, Bruxelles (A paraitre). Google Scholar  * Francois, N, Maury, M, Jouannet, D, David, G, &

Vacant, J (1978-79). Electro-ejaculation of a complete paraplegic followed by pregnancy. _Paraplegia_, 16, 248–251. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Griffiths, H J, Zimmerman, R E, Lazarus, M,

Lowrie, E, Gottlieb, M N, Phillips, E & Pomerantz, K (1977). The long-term follow-up of 195 patients with renal failure: A preliminary report. _Radiology_, 122, 643–648. Article  CAS 

Google Scholar  * Holdsworth, S, Atkins, R C & Dekrester, D M, (1977). The pituitary-testicular axis in men with chronic renal failure. _New Engl. J. Med._, 296, 1245–1249. Article  CAS

  Google Scholar  * Jaimet, C H, (1951). Amyloid Goitre. _Canad. M.A.J._, 64, 158–159. CAS  Google Scholar  * Kennedy, J S, Thomson, J A, and Buchanan, W m (1974). Amyloid in the thyroid.

_Quart. J. Med._, 169, 127–143. Google Scholar  * Lim, V S & Fang, V S, (1975). Gonadal dysfunction in uremic men. _Am. J. Med._, 58, 655–662. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Morrell, M

A (1977). High prevalence of pancreatic disease in chronic renal failure. _Nephron_, 18, 68–71. Article  Google Scholar  * Pasma, A, & Hadders, E N (1952). Case of ‘amyloid goitre’

associated with thyrotoxicosis. _Arch. Chir. Neerl._, 4, 114–118. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Prakash, V, Lin, M S, Song, C H and Perkash, I (1980). Thyroid hypofunction in spinal cord

injury patients. _Paraplegia_, 18, 56–63. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Reiss, E, Canterbury, J M, & Kanter, A (1969). Circulating parathyroid hormone concentration in chronic renal

insufficiency. _Arch. Intern. Med._, 124, 417–422. Article  CAS  Google Scholar  * Stemmerman, G N, Weiss, L, Auerbach, O, & Edman, F F R (1950). A study of the germinal epithelium in

male paraplegics. _Am. J. Clin. Pathol._ 20, 24–34. Article  Google Scholar  * Thomas, R J S, Mcleish, G, & Mcdonald, I A (1975). Electro-ejaculation of the paraplegic male followed by

pregnancy. _Medical Journal of Australia_, 2, 789–790. CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar  * Tribe, C R, & Silver, J R (1969). ‘_Renal Failure’ in paraplegia._ 3–107, Pitman, London. * Vaziri,

N D, Cesario, T, Mootoo, K, & Zeien, L (1982). Bacterial infections in patients with chronic renal failure occurrence with spinal cord injury. _Arch. Int. Med._, 142, 1273–1276. Article

  CAS  Google Scholar  * Vaziri, N D, Mirahmadi, M K, Barton, C H, Eltorai, I, Gordon, S, Byrne, C & Pahl, M V (1982). _Amer. J. of Paraplegia_ (in press). Download references AUTHOR

INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Division of Nephrology, University of California, Irvine, California, U.S.A. C H Barton, N D Vaziri & S Gordon * SCI Service, Long Beach VA Medical

Center, Long Beach, California, U.S.A. I Eltorai Authors * C H Barton View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * N D Vaziri View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * S Gordon View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * I Eltorai View

author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This study was generously funded by the late Eldore G. Reines RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS

Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Barton, C., Vaziri, N., Gordon, S. _et al._ Endocrine pathology in spinal cord injured patients on maintenance dialysis. _Spinal

Cord_ 22, 7–16 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1984.4 Download citation * Issue Date: 01 February 1984 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sc.1984.4 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the

following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer

Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative KEYWORDS * Spinal cord injury * Paraplegia * Endocrine pathology * Chronic renal failure * Dialysis * Amyloidosis