Endocrine Abstracts

Pheochromocytoma is a rare catecholamine-secreting tumor. It is potentially curable but can cause life-threatening hypertension or cardiac arrhythmias. We report a 58- years- old woman with no significant past medical history who was admitted through the emergency department with complaints of chest pain, palpitation, and nausea. She reported six months history of episodic palpitation and throbbing headaches, sometimes associated with light-headedness and dizziness. Hence, she...

Introduction: Milk-alkali syndrome is characterized by the triad of hypercalcaemia, metabolic alkalosis, and acute kidney injury and occurs due to excessive use of elemental calcium. Despite the widespread use of proton pump inhibitors, it is the third most common cause of hypercalcaemia after primary hyperparathyroidism and malignancy.Case presentation: A previously normocalcaemic 33-year-old patient presented at 34 weeks gestation, feeling non-specific...

Sarcoidosis is a multiorgan disease often affecting the lungs and lymphatic system. Neurological involvement occurs in sarcoidosis as granulomas infiltrate the nervous system. Here, we present a case of neurosarcoidosis diagnosed following non-specific neurological symptoms and delayed hypercalcaemia. A 32-year-old female presents with headaches, vomiting and acute confusion. During admission she developed unresponsive episodes. She has a background of type 1 diabetes and hypo...

Introduction: Cushing’s syndrome is a known risk factor for aortic dissection but the association of these conditions is rare. Hypercortisolism is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and accounts for the high morbidity & mortality in untreated patients.Case Study: A 64y old male presented with acute onset chest pain, radiating to the back. CT angiogram showed Stanford Type B dissection involving the distal aortic arch/des...

Adeno-gangliocytomas are rare tumours of the pituitary gland with less than 40 cases described worldwide. Due to the rarity of these tumours, treatment modalities largely follow that of conventional therapies for common pituitary lesions. Case reports on these tumours offer insight into their presentation and the effectiveness of treatment which helps guide future management. A 64-year-old man was admitted for stone fragmentation and ureteric stent insertion. During anaestheti...

Introduction: Thyroid Ultrasound (US) is the recommended first line investigation of suspected thyroid nodules. Specific radiological features, such as micro-calcification, low echogenicity, solid consistency, heterogeneity and ill-defined margins, raise the possibility of underlying malignancy. These findings together with fine needle aspiration cytology guide the management of thyroid nodules. The aim of this audit was to evaluate the quality and adequacy of thyroid US repor...

Introduction: Hypercalcaemia is well associated with metastatic malignancy. Hypocalcaemia is an uncommon complication of osteoblastic metastases and occurs most commonly with breast and prostate carcinoma.Case: A 46-year-old woman with metastatic breast carcinoma and osteoblastic skeletal metastases treated with denosumab presented with severe symptomatic hypocalcaemia. Serum calcium was persistently low with a nadir value of 1.45 mmol/l (2.2–2.6) a...

Introduction: A significant number of patients are intolerant of anti-thyroid drugs (ATD) and thyroidectomy remains the only treatment option available to patients who decline radioiodine as definitive therapy. As patients with poorly controlled thyrotoxicosis are at risk of developing thyroid storm, optimal pre-operative control of hyperthyroidism is essential. Rapid thyroid blockade (RTB) with the contrast agents sodium ipodate and iopanoic acid were attractive treatment opt...

Introduction: Cardiomyopathy as the initial presentation of phaeochromocytoma (PCA) is uncommon. Diagnostic workup and perioperative management may be challenging within this context. We report three cases of PCA presenting with cardiomyopathy to illustrate the pitfalls in diagnosis and management. None of the patients had typical adrenergic symptoms of catecholamine excess and all patients were well established on beta-blockers on presentation. All three patients had an adren...

Objective: To determine whether people with an incidentally discovered adrenal mass are investigated according to regional and global standards (AACE guidelines); to determine the frequency of autonomous endocrine function.Methods: We did a retrospective analysis of clinical, pathology, and radiology records from January 2007 to December 2011. Patients were included if they were seen in the outpatient clinic for evaluation of an adrenal mass >1 cm in...