Endocrine Abstracts

Sleep disordered breathing (SDB), including obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), is associated with excessive daytime somnolence, and impacts significantly on quality of life in affected individuals. It also predisposes to premature cardiovascular (hypertension, congestive cardiac failure, myocardial infarction, sudden death, and stroke) and metabolic (diabetes mellitus and dyslipidaemia) dysfunction.SDB is a well-recognised complication of acromegaly. In mos...

Background: Adrenal incidentalomas (AI) are identified in 4–7% of patients >40 years undergoing abdominal CT/MRI. Evidence of subclinical autonomous glucocorticoid hypersecretion (SAGH) is found in 5–10% of cases depending on the diagnostic criteria/thresholds adopted.Aim: To examine the utility of basal DHEAS measurement in the detection of SAGH in a cohort of patients with AI.Methods: Ninety-six consecutive subjects...

Background: Pituitary carcinoma occurs in ~0.2% of resected pituitary tumours, and carries a poor prognosis (mean survival <4 years), with standard chemotherapeutic regimens showing limited efficacy. However, recent evidence suggests that temozolomide, an orally active alkylating agent used principally in the management of glioblastoma, may also be effective in controlling aggressive/invasive pituitary adenomas/carcinomas. Low levels of expression of the DNA-repair enzyme ...