Endocrine Abstracts

It has been suggested that primary medical treatment of patients with acromegaly using somatostatin analogues (SSA) is as effective at controlling GH levels as post-operative SSA therapy.We have carried out a prospective study in patients harbouring GH secreting macroadenomas to see, in a within-patient comparison, whether debulking pituitary surgery improved GH control on lanreotide compared with that obtained pre-operatively. Local Ethical Committee ap...

Background: Cushing’s disease (CD) may be associated with equivocal results on biochemical investigations.Aim: To evaluate the usefulness of dexamethazone suppression tests in the diagnostic work-up of CD.Patients and methods: Seventy patients with CD [median age 38 yrs(16–76), 53 females] presenting between 1976–2005 were studied. 24-hr urinary free cortisol (UFC), overnight (oDST) (1 mg at 23:00 h), low dose (LDDST...

Background: The safety of GH replacement in patients with craniopharyngioma has not been clearly elucidated.Aim: To assess whether GH replacement increases the risk of craniopharyngioma recurrence.Patients and Methods: The records of the patients with craniopharyngioma followed-up at the Departments of Endocrinology and Paediatrics between 1/1964-6/2004 were reviewed. The recurrence risks of GH-treated and non-GH-treated patients w...

BACKGROUND: Acromegaly is a chronic debilitating disease, which can also affect calcium metabolism. Hypercalciuria is a common finding but hypercalcaemia is rare and has been reported in 0-10% of cases in various studies involving small number of patients.AIM: To investigate the prevalence and aetiology of hypercalcaemia among patients with acromegaly.PATIENTS AND METHODS: The medical records of 145 patients who presented to our De...

INTRODUCTION: Although IGF-I is considered to reflect the daily GH secretion, its value in establishing the diagnosis of adult growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and in predicting the presence of further anterior pituitary deficits has not been elucidated in a large series.AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic utility of a subnormal IGF-I in patients with GHD and to investigate whether a low IGF-I is associated with the presence of further anterior pituitary defi...

Background: Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are involved in growth and metastatic spread of tumours. Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) play a key role in angiogenesis through proliferation of endothelial cells. VEGF-C has been identified as the molecular link between tumour lymphangiogenesis and metastasic spread.Objective: To (1) analyse microvascular density (MVD) and lymphatic vascular density (LVD...

A Short Synacthen Test (SST) cannot be used to assess the pituitary-adrenal axis immediately post transphenoidal adenectomy (TSA). A 9am cortisol must be used to achieve a balance between avoiding hypoadrenalism and over treating with replacement steroids. In this study we have determined the cut-off levels at which an averaged cortisol is most accurate and at which patients can be safely discharged with/without regular steroids or an emergency pack.62 patients (M:F 34:28) wit...

Background: Current available data demonstrate the ability of somatostatin analogues (Ssan) to reduce tumoral size in GH-secreting pituitary adenomas. Somatostatin receptors are present on both tumour cells and vascular endothelium; therefore, potential mechanisms for tumour shrinkage with Ssan include inhibition of cell proliferation, increased cell loss, and inhibition of angiogenesis.Objective: To assess the mechanisms for tumour shrinkage in GH-secre...

Introduction Some published studies suggest acromegalic patients have an increased risk of colonic tumours or pre-malignant dysplastic polyps. We assessed the prevalence of colonic polyps in Oxford acromegalic patients.Methods Patient database identified all 80 acromegalic patients who had had a colonoscopy.Control Patients Our data and published data on two autopsy and eight colonoscopic screening studies in asymptomatic non-acrom...

Background: Growth of solid tumours is angiogenesis dependent. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) are potent endothelial cell mitogens that play a central role in angiogenesis. Very recently intratumoral lymphangiogenesis has been reported. There are currently no data on the presence of angiogenesis or lymphangiogenesis in parathyroid proliferative lesions compared to normal glands.Objectives: (1) To analyse microvascular den...