Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria “Federico II”, Napoli

“Federico II” Hospital is a leading, internationally renowned teaching hospital, which offers a full range of services for diagnosis and treatment of endocrine disease, with a full range of inpatient, outpatient and day hospital services. More than 2000 patients with rare endocrine diseases are currently followed up at “Federico II” Hospital. The hospital has a strong reputation as a centre of excellence in Italy for the treatment of rare endocrine disease from childhood to adulthood. Facilities of “Federico II” Hospital include specialised clinics in the most different medical and surgical branches. All outpatient services provided by the hospital are included in the list of the National Health Service (NHS). “Federico II” Hospital is also a highly specialised university hospital authorized to prescribe treatments for several endocrine rare diseases, including rhGH, sexual hormones, GnRH-analogs, and somatostatin analogs.

The Hospital hosts several Referral Centres for Regione Campania, including:

• Regional Referral Centre for Clinical and Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Diagnosis of Congenital Metabolic Disorders
• Regional Referral Centre for Rehabilitation services and Neuromodulation in patients undergone abdominal surgical procedures.

Many research activities, either clinical and molecular, are performed at “Federico II” Hospital. Particularly, the effectiveness of medical therapies has been extensively evaluated in patients with endocrine tumours. Moreover, a detailed functional characterisation of dopamine and somatostatin receptors from patients with endocrine tumours has led to the initiation of clinical trials aiming at investigating the hormonal and anti-tumoural efficacy of medical treatments with dopamine agonists and somatostatin analogs in such patients. The role of small molecule inhibitors, such as IGF-I receptor inhibitors and mTOR inhibitors, is currently under investigation in order to explore new medical treatment opportunities in endocrine malignancies. To further unravel the role of the IGF-I and insulin receptor bioactivity in health and disease, population based studies, as well as studies on the potential significance of measuring IGF-I and insulin receptor bioactivity in (endocrine) oncology, have been designed and are in progress.

The Division of paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Federico II Hospital has a long tradition of providing quality clinical care of children and adolescents across the board range of paediatric endocrinology disorders; the division is staffed by a team of physicians, nurses and psychologists and offers expertise for the diagnosis and management of congenital and acquired endocrine disorders, including disorders of growth, puberty, sex differentiation, glucose metabolism, bone and mineral metabolism, the pituitary/hypothalamus, the thyroid, the adrenal and the gonads. The division represents an important reference centre for neonatal screening of congenital hypothyroidism.

Division of paediatric endocrinology is actively involved in basic, translational, and clinical research. Long-term outcome of patients with congenital Hypothyroidism, metabolic and cardiovascular outcome of children with pituitary, thyroid and adrenal disorders and autoimmune disorders of infancy have been long-standing interest of the Unit of paediatric Endocrinology. Several clinical trials investigating efficacy of hormonal treatment in children have been conducted or are currently running,

Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria “Federico II”, Napoli is participating in the following Main Thematic Groups (MTGs):

• MTG1Adrenal
• MTG2Disorders of Calcium & Phosphate Homeostasis
• MTG3Genetic Disorders of Glucose & Insulin Homeostasis
• MTG4Genetic Endocrine Tumour Syndromes
• MTG5Growth & Genetic Obesity Syndromes
• MTG6Hypothalamic and Pituitary Conditions
• MTG7Sex Development & Maturation
• MTG8Thyroid

General representatives