Endocrine Abstracts

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a novel, patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure, the Hypoparathyroidism (HPT) Symptom Diary (HPT-SD), using data collected during a cross-sectional, noninterventional, observational study. The HPT-SD, developed according to the US Food and Drug Administration PRO guidance, addresses the severity of key symptoms (muscle cramping, tingling and muscle spasms/twitching, fatigue, cognition, emotions...

Monitoring patients with NETs reveals a significant prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms, often unrelated directly to the tumour1. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency exemplifies a common treatable cause of gastrointestinal symptoms in NET patients undergoing therapy with somatostatin analogues. There is a paucity of data regarding this important issue which affects quality of life in NETs. We explored the value of faecal elastase (FE) as a marker of exocrine pancr...

Background: Both excess and insufficient glucocorticoid exposure in utero is associated with adverse fetal outcomes. Characterising the maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is challenging with large intra-individual variations in plasma and saliva. We hypothesised that 24-hour total urinary glucocorticoid (TUG) is a marker of maternal HPA axis during pregnancy. We tested associations of TUG with maternal BMI and birthweight.Methods: TUG was...

A 62-year-old Asian British female presented with increasing tiredness. She had multiple co-morbidities and was prescribed steroid inhalers for suspected asthma. Her type 2 diabetes mellitus, previously well controlled on metformin, had worsened over a short period of time (48 to 85 mmol/mol). On examination, she was obese (weight 82 kg, BMI 43 kg/m2), hypertensive (155/78 mmHg); rest of the examination was unremarkable. The blood test revealed undetectable cortisol...

Introduction: Parents of children with complex diseases require easily understandable information about their disease to improve health outcomes. Improved disease understanding will also aid shared decision making between clinicians and families. Congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI) is a rare and complex disease of hypoglycaemia associated with significant neurodevelopmental morbidity for which online video-sharing information resources are available. The utility of such informati...

Background: The EarLy Surveillance for Autoimmune diabetes (ELSA) study is screening 20,000 children in the UK aged 3-13 years for type 1 diabetes through measurement of islet autoantibodies. Screening aims to prevent diabetic ketoacidosis at clinical onset of disease, reducing mortality, and identifies the population who could benefit from prevention trials. The ELSA-1 study aimed to explore the perspectives of parents and stakeholders on the relative benefit...

Background: The diagnosis of male hypogonadism can be difficult. Free testosterone is calculated if total testosterone is close to the lower limit of normal, however, this is inaccurate in conditions that alter sex-hormone-binding globulin. Alternatively, salivary testosterone is thought to reflect free testosterone, but is present at low concentrations, thus requiring sensitive mass spectrometry instrumentation, and there is limited data on the pre-analytical...

Background & Aims: The aims of transsphenoidal surgery (restoration/preservation of vision and amelioration of hormonal excess) are balanced against the risk of inducing new post-operative pituitary deficits. This study aims to assess the rate of new anterior hormonal deficits following transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma surgery in our centre and to assess whether the visibility of normal pituitary gland on pre-operative imaging predic...

Background & Aims: The aims of transsphenoidal surgery (restoration/preservation of vision and amelioration of hormonal excess) are balanced against the risk of inducing new post-operative pituitary deficits. This study aims to assess the rate of new anterior hormonal deficits following transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma surgery in our centre and to assess whether the visibility of normal pituitary gland on pre-operative imaging predic...

Background: Current guidelines recommend regular monitoring of total testosterone, haematocrit and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) when androgen-deficient males are commenced on testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). The aim is to restore serum total testosterone to the mid-normal range, whilst maintaining haematocrit and PSA at the recommended levels. Limited studies have assessed the impact of ethnicity on these biochemical parameters.Aim: To measure ...