title: Natural course of hypogonadism diagnosed during hospitalization in aged male patients.
abstract: Our aim was to assess short-term natural course of hypogonadism diagnosed during hospitalization for acute disease in aged male patients after discharge. A group of 43 hypogonadal males, aged 86.7±5.7 year, was studied. Serum concentrations of testosterone (T) and gonadotropins (follicle-stimulating hormone, FSH, and luteinizing hormone, LH) were measured in every patient both at admission and one month after discharge. Mean serum T at entry was 115.4±48.0 ng/dl. Hypogonadism was hyper-, hypo-, and normogonadotropic in 20 (46.5%), 20 (46.5%), and 3 (7.0%) patients, respectively. One month after discharge serum T concentrations increased significantly (230.9±135.6 ng/dl, p<0.001). At this point, more than half of the patients (n=27, 62.8%) showed normal serum T concentrations. Both gonadotropins, FSH (p<0.001), and LH (p=0.04) also increased one month after discharge. Approximately, half of the patients (13, 48.1%) who normalized serum T concentrations also showed normal serum gonadotropin concentrations. Patients who normalized their serum T concentrations one month after discharge showed significantly higher baseline values of T (134.7±33.9 ng/dl) than those who persisted with hypogonadism (n=16, 32.7%; 82.8±51.6 ng/dl, p<0.001). Lastly, serum T was the only independent predictor for achieving eugonadal status (OR 1.030; CI 95%, 1.010-1.050; p<0.001). In conclusion, about 63% of aged patients hospitalized for acute illness with hypogonadism discovered during hospitalization spontaneously normalize their serum T concentrations one month after discharge. Serum gonadotropin concentrations also increased after discharge. Serum T levels at admission was an independent predictor for the normalization of serum T concentrations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Ctra. de Colmenar km 9.100, 28034, Madrid, Spain, piglo65@gmail.com.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Iglesias
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muñoz
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Guerrero
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Macías
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ridruejo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tajada
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: García-Arévalo
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Díez
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018450:Disease Progression; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007006:Hypogonadism / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007297:Inpatients; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D007986:Luteinizing Hormone; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone