Endocrine Abstracts

Hyperthyroidism is a common condition mainly affecting the female population. The majority of individuals with hyperthyroidism have Graves’ disease (GD), an autoimmune condition characterised by the presence of thyrotropin receptor stimulating antibodies. Extrathyroidal manifestations of GD may occur in up to 50% of patients, in the form of thyroid eye disease (TED) and less commonly pretibial myxoedema. TED, an inflammatory condition of the orbit, is usually mild but can...

Primary adrenal failure is a rare condition with an incidence during pregnancy of around 1 case in 12 000 gestations.A 31 years old primi gravida presented 10 days after giving birth to a healthy child at full term with postural dizziness and severe fatigue. There was no history of excessive blood loss during delivery and her past medical history was unremarkable, but low blood pressure (BP) was reported throughout pregnancy. She mentioned increased body...

Background: Obesity and subsequent insulin resistance is becoming more frequent among type 1 diabetes (T1DM) patients, leading to ‘double diabetes’ and potentially increasing vascular risk. Studies in double diabetes remain limited and this population is not fully characterised.Aims: To investigate the prevalence of overweight and obese T1DM patients and analyse the effects of increasing weight on cardiovascula...

Background: Obesity and subsequent insulin resistance is becoming more frequent among type 1 diabetes (T1DM) patients, leading to ‘double diabetes’ and potentially increasing vascular risk. Studies in double diabetes remain limited and this population is not fully characterised.Aims: To investigate the prevalence of overweight and obese T1DM patients and analyse the effects of increasing weight on cardiovascula...

Introduction: In young patients with Primary hyperparathyroidism, parathyroidectomy is the treatment of choice. Transient hypocalcaemia is common complication of parathyroidectomy but rarely potentially life threatening hungry bone syndrome (HBS) can develop. HBS is a state of hypocalcaemia, hypophosphataemia and tetany without concomitant hypoparathyroidism, and is caused by massive calcium deposition to the bone. Resulting hypocalcaemia can be severe and prolonged, requiring...

Introduction: Achieving optimum glycaemic control in young adults is challenging. Furthermore, transfer of care to adult services has been associated with deterioration in glycaemic control. We aimed to establish glycaemic control and rate of microvascular complications in young adults with childhood onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) and looked specifically at a subset of patients before and after transfer to adult care.Methods: A retrospective study of patien...

Case history: A 22-year-old lady was referred to the thyroid eye clinic with bilateral proptosis following a routine visit to the opticians. She had a 2-year history of thyrotoxic symptoms, which had been getting worse over the past 4 months.She had signs of severe thyrotoxicosis and was clinically in atrial fibrillation (AF) with a central heart rate of 195 beats/min. Neck palpation revealed a moderate-sized smooth and symmetrical goitre with no bruits ...

Background: Hyperthyroidism affects 1.3% of the population. The antithyroid drugs (ATD), carbimazole and propylthiouracil, can induce agranulocytosis, a rare but potentially life threatening side-effect with a prevalence of 0.10–0.15%. We assessed the adequacy of our patient’s knowledge of this side-effect.Methods: Patients on ATD completed a questionnaire before attending clinic. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions detailing informat...

A nineteen year old man was admitted by his GP with profound weight loss. He had avoided contact with primary care services as he feared doctors, but had been referred to an eating disorders clinic. He had a diet of exclusively snack food and had been losing weight for two years.On examination he was cachectic and pale with scanty body hair. His body mass index was 13 kg/m2, with a weight of 44 kg. He was clinically thyrotoxic, a small diffuse...

Introduction: Long-term survivors of childhood-onset brain tumours have increased risk of premature vascular disease by mechanisms that remain unclear. We hypothesised that a thrombotic fibrin network profile is one mechanism for the increased vascular risk in this population.Methods: We undertook a cross-sectional study in 33 patients with previous history of brain tumours and 33 age and sex-matched healthy controls. We performed clot structure analysis...