Endocrine Abstracts

A 19-year-old man attended his optician with an 18-month history of decreased visual acuity. Formal visual field testing revealed significant bitemporal hemianopia. On further questioning in hospital, his voice had deepened only 6 months previously. He had no facial hair. He had no difficulty with erections or libido. He had felt fatigued for months, but had no headaches, weight loss or postural dizziness. There was no history of galactorrhoea, gynaecomastia, nocturia, or exce...

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the Body Image Assessment in Obesity (BIA-O) scale in a UK obesity clinic population by assessing its performance in individuals with a Body Mass Index (BMI) above 50 Kg/m2, evaluating whether obese subjects selected achievable ‘reasonable’ body sizes, and comparing the relationship between body dissatisfaction on the Eating Disorder Inventory-2 (EDI-2) and BIA-O.Methods: Subjects attending...

A 61-year-old gentleman, with a background of chronic schizophrenia, presented with hyponatraemia in 2008 and was diagnosed with Addison’s disease. He had two previous admissions with hyponatraemia in 2002 and 2006. During his first admission his hyponatraemia was attributed to volume depletion secondary to vomiting, and he responded to fluid resuscitation. On the second occasion, SIADH (syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone) was diagnosed secondary to antipsycho...

Acromegaly is a condition resulting from the action of excess growth hormone. We report the first case of acromegaly occurring in an individual as a result of growth hormone replacement therapy.Features of acromegaly developed in a forty-year old gentleman who was commenced on growth hormone replacement in 1993 following resection of a craniopharyngioma. Prior to commencing therapy, peak growth hormone response to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia was less ...

Recent analysis has shown that up to 18 percent of the Irish population are obese; a further 40 percent are overweight. Orlistat (Xenical)is a gastrointestinal lipase inhibitor that limits absorption of ingested fat thus aiding weight reduction. We report the use of orlistat outside the clinical trial setting in Ireland from 7 April 2000 to 30 June 2001.A total of 5,251 patients (4,376 women, 875 men) attended 240 weight management clinics (229 in primary care and 11 in se...

Sixty-six patients with type 2 diabetes, obesity and no known history of cardiovascular disease were recruited to a lifestyle-intervention study. The aims of this study were to quantify the presence of silent and symptomatic ischaemia using a Bruce protocol treadmill-test, and to identify factors associated with a positive stress-test in these patients. Ethical approval was obtained from the local ethics committee.54/66 patients had blood pressure (BP) g...

Follicular thyroid cancer is the second most common cause of thyroid carcinoma. Metastasis occurs in 10–15% of cases. Typical sites of metastasis include bone and lungs, scalp metastasis are rare, with <50 cases reported. We describe two such cases.A retrospective chart review was performed on these patients, examining presentation, treatment and subsequent outcomes.Patient 1. An abnormal lesion was noted on a routine ches...

The British Thyroid Association recommends that a specialist multidisciplinary team (MDT) is responsible for thyroid cancer management. In accordance with this recommendation, a team was formed to manage thyroid carcinoma in a tertiary referral centre. The team included endocrinology, general surgery, ENT, cytology, radiology and radiation oncology consultants.This audit was performed to assess management of thyroid carcinoma before the establishment of ...

Vitamin D insufficiency is common in the Irish population. Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and co-existing vitamin D insufficiency have higher PTH levels, increased bone turnover and increased risk of postoperative hypocalcaemia. The 3rd International Workshop on PHPT recommended measurement of serum 25-OH Vitamin D in all patients with PHPT, and treatment where required to maintain 25-OH Vitamin D >50 nmol/l. Our study aimed to assess vitamin D status in ...

Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2a (MEN 2a) is an autosomal dominant disorder with an incidence of ~1 in 30 000 of the population. It is characterized by medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), benign or malignant phaeochromocytomas, and parathyroid hyperplasia or tumours.Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome), is also an autosomal dominant disorder; this condition occurs with an incidence of ~1–2 per 100 000 of the population....