Endocrine Abstracts

A 38-year old lady from the Philippines presented with a 2-year history of a painless thyroid lump, without pressure symptoms. Over the previous year it had gradually enlarged in size. She gave a history of disturbed sleep, tremor, anxiety and weight loss over the 2-year period. Past medical history included right middle lobectomy for bronchiectasis 10 years previously. Thyroid function tests revealed TSH<0.05 mu/l, FT4 86 pmol/l, FT3 18.3 pmol/l and ...

We report two patients (AB 41 years, LS 55 years) presenting with symptoms of hyperprolactinaemia. Prolactin levels were moderately elevated: 1539 (AB), 1186 (LS) (NR 59-619 mU/L). The remainder of the pituitary profile was normal. Neither patient had visual field defects. MRIs (without contrast) reported pituitary macroadenoma with suprasellar extension but no optic chiasm compression. The initial diagnosis was of probable non-functioning adenoma causing stalk compression. Bo...

Sporadic Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is an uncommon thyroid cancer. The prevalence has been studied in two large European studies(1,2). Serum calcitonin provides a highly sensitive and specific tumour marker for this. We shall present a case which typifies the presentation of MTC and discuss its relevance.A 71-year-old gentleman of Italian descent was admitted in 2001 with left lower limb cellulitis. It was documented that he had an incidental goitre, that had been p...

Lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism was first described in 1973 by Garfinkel et. al.The two cases aim to illustrate Lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism which was previously thought to be a rare occurrence and outline characteristic features of this disorder.Case 1.A 51 year old male presented with polydipsia and polyuria. He was known to suffer from bipolar affective disorder with lithium treatment was admitt...

Lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism was first described in 1973 by Garfinkel et. al.The two cases aim to illustrate Lithium-induced hyperparathyroidism which was previously thought to be a rare occurrence and outline characteristic features of this disorder.Case 1.A 51 year old male presented with polydipsia and polyuria. He was known to suffer from bipolar affective disorder with lithium treatment was admitt...

Background: Increased adiposity is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk but among overweight individuals clarification is needed of relationships between insulin sensitivity, fat distribution and metabolic health that might contribute to this risk.Methods: During the Heart Disease and Diabetes Research Indicators in a Screened Cohort (HDDRISC) study, 560 employment cohort normoglycaemic (FPG less than 7...

Background: Increased adiposity is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk but among overweight individuals clarification is needed of relationships between insulin sensitivity, fat distribution and metabolic health that might contribute to this risk.Methods: During the Heart Disease and Diabetes Research Indicators in a Screened Cohort (HDDRISC) study, 560 employment cohort normoglycaemic (FPG less than 7...

A 29-year-old lady with known autoimmune thyrotoxicosis (TPO 712 IU/ml) presented with an urticarial rash. She was on carbimazole. A diagnosis of drug-induced reaction was suspected and treated as such. Her carbimazole was discontinued. After a day of treatment with steroids and antihistamines, she experienced flushing, orthostatic hypotension and difficulty in breathing. She was treated for anaphylaxis with adrenaline on intensive care unit. A formal Dermatology opinion was p...

We investigated the relationship between gestational diabetes (GDM) and the metabolic syndrome in 368 (185 European (EUR), 103 South Asian (SA) and 80 Afro-Caribbean (AC)) women studied 20.0 (18.2-22.1) months (mean (95% CI)) following a GDM pregnancy and 482 normoglycaemic women (288 EUR, 99 SA, 95 AC) with no history of GDM. Estimates of beta-cell function (%B) and insulin sensitivity (%S) were derived using the HOMA method. Analysis was by multiple linear regression includi...

Background: Diabetic gastroparesis is a disabling condition with no consistently effective treatment. Ghrelin infusion, in animal studies, increases gastric emptying and reverses post-operative ileus. We present the results of the first double-blind placebo-controlled cross-over study of ghrelin in gastric emptying in patients with diabetic gastroparesis....