Endocrine Abstracts

We measured chromogranin A (CgA) and chromogranin B (CgB) in 36 patients, recently confirmed to have a midgut carcinoid tumour (MGC), prior to the commencement of octreotide treatment. Blood samples were taken before and after a bolus injection of 50 μg octreotide. There were 21 males, 15 females, age range 28–76 median 61 years.Basal CgA, expressed as times the upper limit of normal (ULN) ranged from 333.3 to 0.5 ULN. Basal CgB ranged from 33....

Before the use of potent acid suppressing drugs and in particular proton pump inhibiters (PPI), most patients with gastrinoma presented with Zollinger–Ellison syndrome and diagnosis was problematic in only a few. In recent years, the syndrome is rarely seen and gastrinoma patients present with less overt symptoms and hypergastrinaemia which may be mild. Increasingly patients present later.In the population, hypergastrinaemia most commonly occurs bec...

This 52-year-old lady presented in 2001 at a GI clinic complaining of occasional abdominal cramps, which could be severe and prolonged. Her symptoms were not associated with diarrhoea or constipation. Weight loss of 4.5 kg over 4 months was noted. Coeliac disease was excluded and a diagnosis of severe irritable bowel was made.In January 2002 she returned to the clinic with further weight loss (total 8 kg), cyclical symptoms of diarrhoea lasting 3–5 ...

A 46-year-old male presented in 1981 with a 2 year history of profuse watery diarrhoea, three stone weight loss and fatigue. On examination he appeared gaunt with diffuse muscle weakness. Investigations revealed hypokalaemia (2.5 mmol/l; NR 3.5–4.5), achlorhydria and a raised vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) (1500ng/L; NR 0–100). Abdominal CT showed a 5 cm pancreatic mass but with no focal liver pathology. A distal pancreatectomy was performed. Histology confi...

We present a 66 year old man with a metastatic small bowel neuroendocrine tumour managed with resection of primary in 2011 and subsequent somatostatin analogue therapy. In 2018 disease progressed requiring right ureteric stenting due to extrinsic nodal compression. Three weeks later he presented with sweats, pyrexia and elevated inflammatory markers. Multiple blood and urinary cultures were clear. CT imaging, MRI spine and echocardiogram did not identify a source of sepsis. Ur...