Endocrine Abstracts

Menopause timing is highly variable, having a direct effect on reproductive lifespan, fertility and health outcomes in later life. Endocrine and imaging tests only record changes in ovarian function that have already taken place, thus disabling early prediction and identification of women with reduced reproductive lifespan. Human genetic studies have attempted to overcome this problem by identifying genetic markers associated with menopause timing and fertility. Using data fro...

Anna Spada is currently Full Professor at the School of Medice, University of Milan. Her main research interests are on signal transduction in pituitary cells, pathogenesis of pituitary tumors, genotype/phenotype relationships in acromegalic patients with gsp mutations, tissue specific GNAS1 gene imprinting, molecular mechanisms of resistance to hormone action, activating and inactivating mutations of GNAS1 in endocrine disorders, polymorphic variants of somatostatin receptor ...

Objective: To characterize patients with GH deficiency associated with lymphocytic hypophysitis (LyH).Method: Patients with a diagnosis of LyH were identified in the KIMS database. The responsible clinicians were asked to confirm the diagnosis and to provide more detailed information on the patient by filling in a questionnaire.Results: One hundred and fifty patients with a diagnosis of LyH were identified in the database and 100 c...

The adverse effect of childhood cancer and treatment thereof on growth was firmly established in the mid-1970’s. The impact on growth is multifactorial, however, cranial irradiation was quickly established as one of the most important contributors. Exposure of the hypothalamo-pituitary (HP) region to radiation in childhood cancer survivors is now a well-established risk factor for the development of anterior hypopituitarism. The degree of hypopituitarism can vary between ...

Approximately 650 000 children born in the UK each year, using a definition of a birth weight less than 2 S.D. 14 950 children are born SGA. 90% of these children will experience catch up growth by the age of 4 years leaving around 1500 children eligible for treatment with recombinant human growth hormone. Data from the BSPED audit in 2016 recorded 177 children started on GH at a mean age of 6.2 years – all of these children will have been short at 4 years ...

In adults, the absence of a biological marker equivalent to height in children, means the diagnosis of GHD relies exclusively on biochemical tests. Confirmation of GHD when suspected involves use of GH stimulation tests, serum levels of GH-dependent peptides, and 24 h GH profiles.GH stimulation tests have become the mainstay for diagnosis of adult GHD, which superficially appears to be relatively simple. GHD in the adult is accepted as a peak GH response...

A 54 year old gentleman presented to the eye services with reduced vision on the right attributed to a cataract. Following cataract surgery there was no improvement and his vision declined further with reducing vision also on the left. He was reviewed in Neuro-ophthalmology clinic 29/10/21 and clinical suspicion of a pituitary lesion based on binasal retinal ganglion cell layer loss and bilateral optic atrophy prompted urgent imaging. His right eye visual acuity was to hand mo...

Case history: A 27 years old lady having presented with a neck mass, underwent a total thyroidectomy for thyroid malignancy in 1967. Histology confirmed papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. In 1968, she complained of tiredness and mild neck swelling despite TSH suppressive therapy. Her thyroid uptake study showed a residuum of thyroid tissue within the neck. She went on to have radioiodine ablation therapy on two separate occasions. She responded well with no evidence of residu...

Introduction: Within the setting of putative or established pituitary disease the primary disease process (i.e. Cushing’s disease), hormone deficits (i.e. sex steroids, GH), and inappropriate replacement therapy (i.e. glucocorticoids) are reputed to predispose to low bone mass.Patients and Methods: We examined bone mass at the lumbar spine (LS) and total hip (TH) using DXA in 259 patients with an insult to the hypothalamo–pituitary axis (51.6&#...

A 65-year-old gentleman was referred by his GP because of acute kidney injury and hypercalcaemia, which was associated with low levels of parathyroid hormone. He had been fit and well and was on no regular medications. Whilst his hypercalcaemia was partly correctible with saline rehydration, cautious use of bisphosphonates and cinacalcet were not effective in preventing rebound, and his nephropathy persisted. Curiously, he had longstanding low plasma alkaline phosphatase, but had normal denti...