Endocrine Abstracts

The defining features of Kallmann's syndrome (KS) are isolated hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism (IHH) and anosmia, the consequences of a GnRH neuronal migratory defect and olfactory bulb agenesis respectively. Additional features in X-linked Kallmann's syndrome (XKI), include unilateral renal agenesis and bimanual synkinesis respectively. XKI results from mutations of KALIG 1, on Xp22.3. The encoded protein anosmin-1, is a hexamodular secreted cell membrane associated extracellu...

Recent advances in treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors with selective tyrosine kinase inhibitors have generated interest in identifying other cancers that could be approached with similar strategies. Cancers derived from follicular (papillary thyroid cancer; PTC) and parafollicular thyroid C cells (medullary thyroid cancer; MTC) represent paradigms of solid neoplasms in which tumor initiation events are well defined, and involve activa...

1500 euthyroid patients (1302 females and 198 males, mean age 47.8) presenting with thyroid enlargement were evaluated by fine needle aspiration (FNAC) of the thyroid as the first line investigation. The final cytological or histological diagnosis was determined after surgery (n=556) or clinical follow-up for a minimum period of 2 years (mean 9.5 yrs, range 2-19 years). Goitre type was assessed clinically and classified as diffuse in 184, multinodular in 457 or solitary nodule...

Much has been written on the attributes of preoperative localisation and minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) for primary hyperparathyroidism. A recent 'summary statement from a workshop on asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism: a perspective for the 21st century' (Bilezikian et al, 2002) suggested however that in experienced hands, conventional open parathyroidectomy with visualisation of all four glands was still the gold standard. In light of this we have carried o...

Vitamin D is essential to the control of calcium homeostasis and is mainly provided by exposure to sunlight. In the UK circulating Vitamin D is subject to seasonal variation with peak values occurring in early Autumn and trough values in late Spring. Requests for Vitamin D assays are increasing but few laboratories quote seasonal reference ranges and many commercial suppliers quote reference ranges for populations living in warmer, sunnier climates. This study established seas...

Introduction: Lymphocytic hypophysitis is a rare autoimmune disease predominantly affecting females in the antepartum and postpartum period. It is characterized by destruction and lymphocytic infiltration of predominantly adenohypophysis with various degrees of hypopituitarism. Posteriour pituitary gland involvement is rare but has been reported. We report a case of a 32 year old lady who presented with diabetes insipidus and hypoadrenalism.Case: A 32 year old lady complai...

ObjectiveMeasurement of insulin sensitivity has always been a key interest in the clinical investigation of Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Previous studies have shown good correlation between the Oral Glucose Insulin Sensitivity (OGIS) Model and the gold standard euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic glucose clamp. This study is to describe OGIS as an index for insulin sensitivity derived from glucose-insulin model in a clinical setting.Methods468 non-diabetes patients and 224 ...

Introduction: Diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) remains a significant cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with diabetes. We reviewed all DKA episodes occurring in a large inner city teaching hospital between January 1997 and December 2001.Methods: A retrospective chart analysis was performed on 108 episodes of DKA identified through hospital inpatients enquiry (HIPE). DKA was defined as the triad of hyperglycaemia, ketonuria and acidosis with pH<7.35. All patients ha...

Objective: The prevalence of primary aldosteronism (PA) occures in approximately 5–10% of patients with hypertension. Aldosterone induces fluid retention and a variety of angiopathy. We investigated the course of hypertension and renal function in the post-treatment period.Methods: Nine patients with PA were performed adrenalectomy and 21 patients were administered medications including mineralocorticoid receptor brocker. Blood pressure, serum potas...

Introduction: Primary aldosteronism (PA) is one of the common diseases, and aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) is a surgically curable type, which is usually treated by unilateral total adrenalectomy. We had recently developed a new method of supper-selective ACTH-stimulated adrenal venous sampling (SS-ACTH-AVS) for exactly detecting the main lesion(s) of hyperaldosteronemia. Then we attempted to partially remove the unilateral lesion of hyperaldosteronism detected by SS-ACTH...