Endocrine Abstracts

Sporadic Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is an uncommon thyroid cancer. The prevalence has been studied in two large European studies(1,2). Serum calcitonin provides a highly sensitive and specific tumour marker for this. We shall present a case which typifies the presentation of MTC and discuss its relevance.A 71-year-old gentleman of Italian descent was admitted in 2001 with left lower limb cellulitis. It was documented that he had an incidental goitre, that had been p...

A 38-year old lady from the Philippines presented with a 2-year history of a painless thyroid lump, without pressure symptoms. Over the previous year it had gradually enlarged in size. She gave a history of disturbed sleep, tremor, anxiety and weight loss over the 2-year period. Past medical history included right middle lobectomy for bronchiectasis 10 years previously. Thyroid function tests revealed TSH<0.05 mu/l, FT4 86 pmol/l, FT3 18.3 pmol/l and ...

Lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism was first described in 1973 by Garfinkel et. al.The two cases aim to illustrate Lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism which was previously thought to be a rare occurrence and outline characteristic features of this disorder.Case 1.A 51 year old male presented with polydipsia and polyuria. He was known to suffer from bipolar affective disorder with lithium treatment was admitt...

Lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism was first described in 1973 by Garfinkel et. al.The two cases aim to illustrate Lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism which was previously thought to be a rare occurrence and outline characteristic features of this disorder.Case 1.A 51 year old male presented with polydipsia and polyuria. He was known to suffer from bipolar affective disorder with lithium treatment was admitt...

A 29-year-old lady with known autoimmune thyrotoxicosis (TPO 712 IU/ml) presented with an urticarial rash. She was on carbimazole. A diagnosis of drug-induced reaction was suspected and treated as such. Her carbimazole was discontinued. After a day of treatment with steroids and antihistamines, she experienced flushing, orthostatic hypotension and difficulty in breathing. She was treated for anaphylaxis with adrenaline on intensive care unit. A formal Dermatology opinion was p...

We report two patients (AB 41 years, LS 55 years) presenting with symptoms of hyperprolactinaemia. Prolactin levels were moderately elevated: 1539 (AB), 1186 (LS) (NR 59-619 mU/L). The remainder of the pituitary profile was normal. Neither patient had visual field defects. MRIs (without contrast) reported pituitary macroadenoma with suprasellar extension but no optic chiasm compression. The initial diagnosis was of probable non-functioning adenoma causing stalk compression. Bo...

Background: Diabetic gastroparesis is a disabling condition with no consistently effective treatment. Ghrelin infusion, in animal studies, increases gastric emptying and reverses post-operative ileus. We present the results of the first double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study of ghrelin in gastric emptying in patients with diabetic gastroparesis....

BackgroundDiabetic gastroparesis is a disabling condition with no consistently effective treatment. Ghrelin infusion, in animal studies, increases gastric emptying and reverses post-operative ileus. We present the results of the first double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study of ghrelin in gastric emptying in patients with diabetic gastroparesis.MethodsTen insulin requiring diabetic patients (5 men, 6 ...

Background: Thyroid hormones increase both serum levels of cystatin C and renal glomerular filtration rate (reflected by lower serum creatinine); the latter is considered the main determinant of cystatin C levels. A potential explanation for this apparently discrepant finding is an increased production, rather than a decreased clearance, of cystatin C. To study whether 3,3′,5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3) increases the production of cystatin C in a w...

Desmond G Johnston, Campus Dean, St Mary’s Hospital Campus, Imperial College London, London, UK Director, UK Diabetes Research Network AbstractProfessor Johnston trained in Edinburgh and Southampton where, as an MRC Training Fellow, he did his PhD with Professor George Alberti. His work at that time investigated metabolic disturbances in liver disease and metabolic aspects of endocrinology.I...