Endocrine Abstracts

Phaeochromocytoma is a rare tumour of the adrenal gland medulla characterized by excess catecholamine release. Classic presentation includes paroxysms of hypertension and adrenergic symptoms such as headache, sweating, shortness of breath, and tachycardia. In severe cases, patients might develop hypertensive crises and cardiomyopathy. We present a case of intestinal pseudo-obstruction as a rare complication of phaeochromocytoma which responded only to surgical resection of the...

Background: Thyrotoxic periodic paralysis (TPP) is a rare complication of thyrotoxicosis, characterized by recurrent hypokalemia, episodic muscle weakness and paralysis. It is potentially fatal in serious attacks with occurrence of life-threatening cardiopulmonary complications. Currently, lack of large cohorts comprising individuals with TPP history restrict the conduct of relevant epidemiology study.Methods: Clinical data from a population-wide electro...

A 56 year old man was admitted from psychiatry ward after episode of symptomatic hypoglycaemia with capillary blood glucose of 2.5 mmol/L. His background included CKD on thrice weekly haemodialysis, IHD, stroke, hypertension and paranoid psychosis but not diabetes. He denied taking hypoglycaemics, his oral intake was normal and weight was stable. He had another symptomatic hypoglycamia after 22 hours with venous glucose of 1.5 mmol/L, Insulin 320 mU/L (3.0–17.0) and C-pep...

Lithium is commonly used for management of Bipolar disorders. Li-induced thyroid dysfunction, including hypothyroidism and goitre are the most prevalent while hyperthyroidism is very infrequent, mainly characterised by transient painless thyroiditis but it increases the propensity to thyroid autoimmunity in susceptible individuals. Thyroid profile, thyroid auto-antibodies, assessment of thyroid size should be performed among patients initiating lithium, at baseline and later a...

The index case, a 26-year-old man, presented with a 15-month history of gynaecomastia. Investigations revealed a large left-sided adrenal mass that secreted oestrone and oestradiol, with suppression of FSH, LH and testosterone production. It was removed in 1991 with correction of the hormonal abnormalities and follow-up has shown no recurrence to date.In April 2001 the eighteen-month old daughter of the index case developed greasy skin, acne, pubic hair...

Introduction: Li-Fraumeni syndrome is a rare disorder that greatly increases the risk of developing several types of cancer, particularly in children and young adults. It is a hereditary disease with high penetrance autosomal dominant transmission that is due, in 70% of the cases, to germline mutations in the gene TP53. The most common cancers associated with this disorder are brain tumors, sarcomas, breast cancer and adrenocortical tumors.Methods: We de...

A 33 year-old man was referred to the endocrine bone clinic following presentation with a 4 mm kidney stone and hypercalcaemia. Apart from mild fatigue, he had no other hypercalcaemic or concerning symptoms. He was not on any medications or supplements. He had a positive family history for kidney stones and reported that his grandmother had been noted to have hypercalcaemia in the past. There was significant consanguinity in his family. Examination was entirely normal while bl...

A 92-year-old man presented with a one-month history of episodic aggression, confusion, urinary incontinence and auditory hallucinations. Episodes lasted 30 - 150 minutes, occurred daily and were abruptly self-terminating. Between episodes he was cognitively intact and lived independently. Initial investigations revealed a plasma glucose of 11.0 millimoles per litre, other biochemical tests were normal.He was known to have a pleural mass at the left lung...

We previously showed that progesterone (P4) regulates p53 expression and cell cycle progress in human umbilical venous endothelial cells (HUVEC) through progesterone receptor (PR) activation of extra-nuclear signaling pathways. Here, we showed that P4 activated the PR and hence increased the formation of progesterone receptor A-(PR-A)-NF-κB complex in both the cytosol and the nucleus. Chromatin immunoprecipitation demonstrated an interaction between PR and the NF-κB ...

Introduction: Galactorrhea is defined as the secretion and flow of milk from the mammary gland in a man or a woman who is not breastfeeding. It is generally due to a pituitary adenoma secreting prolactin. The etiological diagnosis is based on prolactin levels and imaging.Case reportWe report the case of a 42-year-old patient with no notable medical history. His symptoms date back 17 years, marked by the onset of bilateral gynecomastia, spontaneous galactorrhea, and decreased l...