Endocrine Abstracts

Primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is most frequently encountered as a non-familial disorder, but 10% of patients with primary HPT will have a hereditary form, which may occur as an isolated endocrinopathy or as part of a complex tumour syndrome such as multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1) or type 2 (MEN 2), or the hereditary hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumour syndrome (HPT-JT). Familial isolated hyperparathyroidism (FIHP) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterised by u...

Background: Calcitonin is a reliable marker for medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and is useful in follow-up of patients with MTC. While fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) is very sensitive and specific for differentiated thyroid carcinoma (follicular and papillary lesions), it is less reliable for diagnosis of MTC. It has been proposed that calcitonin should be used in assessment of patients with thyroid nodules. We have calculated the costs of this strategy.<p class="a...

Background: Point-of-care tests (POCT) for glucose promote timely clinical management. We assessed the precision and accuracy of POCT compared with laboratory measurements in children undergoing dynamic function tests.Methods: Split samples of venous blood were tested on POCT meters (Precision PCx Plus and Precision Xceed Pro) and in the laboratory (ADVIA 2400). Clinical reliability was assessed against the ISO 15197 standard: In at least 95% of cases, d...

Background: A hydrocortisone day curve can be used to assess a patient's steroid replacement. However the need for venous samples requires patients to be admitted to hospital either over-night or as a day case and tablet times may vary compared to the patients' usual practice.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether patients could collect capillary or salivary cortisol at home and whether these collections were reproducible.<p class=...

Quantification of the catecholamine metabolites, normetadrenaline, metadrenaline and the dopamine metabolite 3-methoxytyramine is widely used as a biochemical investigation for the presence of a phaeochromocytoma. As with any biochemical measurement it is essential that the results are compared against a reference range appropriate for the individual patient.In order to assess the suitability of published reference ranges for these analytes, observed re...

Introduction: Factors that affect the response to growth hormone (GH) treatment in GH-deficient adults are not certain. We performed a retrospective analysis of our data to determine the effect of age and sex hormone replacement on growth hormone replacement dose and IGF-1 levels in growth hormone deficient adults.Patients and Methods: 146 patients (73F/73M, age range 18-84 years) were referred for growth hormone replacement between 1997 and 2001. The I...

Children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) due to anatomical defects (AD) have different thyroid hormone levels at presentation from those with dyshormonogenesis (DH). We set out to explore these differences at initial presentation and at follow up. We also compared calcitonin levels and growth in these subjects with healthy controls. Data for the CH children were collected from hospital notes for birth weight, gestation, sex, initial laboratory thyroid function, starting do...

Background: The safety of GH replacement in patients with craniopharyngioma has not been clearly elucidated.Aim: To assess whether GH replacement increases the risk of craniopharyngioma recurrence.Patients and Methods: The records of the patients with craniopharyngioma followed-up at the Departments of Endocrinology and Paediatrics between 1/1964-6/2004 were reviewed. The recurrence risks of GH-treated and non-GH-treated patients w...

A Short Synacthen Test (SST) cannot be used to assess the pituitary-adrenal axis immediately post transphenoidal adenectomy (TSA). A 9am cortisol must be used to achieve a balance between avoiding hypoadrenalism and over treating with replacement steroids. In this study we have determined the cut-off levels at which an averaged cortisol is most accurate and at which patients can be safely discharged with/without regular steroids or an emergency pack.62 patients (M:F 34:28) wit...

The calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) is a G protein coupled receptor that is expressed in the parathyroids and kidneys, where it plays a pivotal role in the regulation of extracellular calcium homeostasis. Patients with activating CaSR mutations have autosomal dominant hypocalcaemia with hypercalciuria (ADHH), which is associated with polydipsia, polyuria, nephrocalcinosis and renal impairment. The Nuf mouse, which has an activating CaSR mutation (Leu723Gln) has been reported t...