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Despite receiving Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy or Gender-Affirming Surgery, which may adversely impact their fertility, people with Gender Dysphoria (GD) may desire to form families. In this study, we aimed to quantitatively display fertility desire from the perspective of these individuals, despite all the legal challenges they face. The single center, cross-sectional comparative study included individuals with GD and cisgender volunteers. A Sociodemographic Data Form, the Fertility Desire Data Form, the Childbearing Motivations Scale and the Fertility Desire Scale were used. Of the 414 participants, 171 were individuals with GD (110 FtM; 61 MtF) and 243 were cisgender volunteers (142 cis-males; 101 cis-females). While 22% of the people with GD stated that they had regrets about not undergoing fertility preservation, 16% stated that they would like this process if it were legal. People with GD, particularly MtF, want to have children more than cisgenders. Moreover, people with MtF exhibited less negative motivations toward becoming parents, despite having reservations regarding the socioeconomic aspect of parenthood. Our findings indicate that fertility desire in people with GD is not less in comparison to cisgender people. Healthcare professionals should not forget to offer fertility preservation options as part of clinical practice before Gender-Affirming Therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We primarily aimed to investigate the hematologic inflammatory parameters such as mean platelet volume (MPV), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with acromegaly. We also aimed to reveal the importance of these parameters in determining disease activity. Methods: The medical data of 535 patients with acromegaly were retrospectively reviewed. The sociodemographic characteristics, presence of comorbid disease, acromegaly-related clinical and medical treatment characteristics, insulinlike growth factor-1 and growth hormone levels at diagnosis, postoperative 3rd month and last visit, and hematologic inflammatory markers and indices at last visit were obtained from the patients' medical charts. The patients were divided into age-, sex-, and comorbid disease-matched four groups according to their last remission status: active disease, remission with only surgery, remission with medication, and discordant disease. Finally, a total of 290 patients were included. Results: We examined a total of 290 patients with acromegaly after primary therapy; 36 had active disease, 77 were in remission with only surgery, 129 were in remission with medication, and 48 had a discordant disease. When the patients were categorized by last remission status, the median MPV was higher in patients with discordant disease than in the remission group with only surgery, and there were no differences in terms of the NLR and PLR between groups. When the participants were divided into two groups according to the presence of remission at the postoperative 3rd month, patients who had remission had lower MPV levels than those who had not. However, the groups had similar features for the NLR and PLR. Conclusion: Our results, particularly those that reveal positive association between MPV and remission status, indicate that subclinical inflammation may play a role in increased mortality and morbidity. Therefore, in addition to patients with active disease, patients with discordant disease should be followed closely for cardiovascular risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the possible effects of androgens on the course of COVID-19, it can be posited that Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy (GAHT) may affect the course of the disease in people with GD. We aimed to investigate the relationship between GAHT and contracting COVID-19, as well as the severity of the disease in individuals with Gender Dysphoria (GD). The single center, cross-sectional, web-based survey was completed by people with GD who received GAHT. The questionnaire contained three parts: a sociodemographic data form; a GAHT data form; a COVID-19-related data form. Of the 238 participants, 179 were individuals with female-to-male (FtM) and 59 male-to-female (MtF) GD. We detected that the risk of contracting COVID-19 increased 3.46 times in people with FtM GD, who had received testosterone therapy, in comparison to people with MtF GD, who received estrogen and anti-androgen therapy. Additionally, people with FtM GD who contracted COVID-19 had received longer testosterone therapy when compared to those who did not contract COVID-19. Our findings indicate that individuals with FtM GD who receive testosterone treatment within the scope of GAHT are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and that the clinicians who follow-up on GAHT should be more careful about this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]