Endocrine Abstracts

Ergot derived dopamine agonist therapy (EDDAT) has recently been associated with fibrotic cardiac valvulopathy in patients with Parkinson’s disease. These patients received a cumulative dose of 2800–6700 mg of cabergoline for an average duration of two years. This has raised concerns about the use of these agents in patients with prolactinomas and has led to the recent EMEA/MHRA guidance that all patient being treated with EDDA should undergo surveillance echocardiog...

Treatment of acromegaly aims primarily to reverse the increased mortality and morbidity associated with active disease to that of the non-acromegalic population. Recent evidence indicates that the best biochemical criteria for successful treatment should be a mean GH<2micrograms per litre (approximately 4milliunits per litre). Although a 'test dose' of octreotide (OTD) is recommended prior to use of depot somatostatin analogues (SSAs), there remains no consensus regarding t...

Intro: A subset of pancreatic and gastric neuroendocrine tumours (NET) are associated with hypercalcaemia attributed to tumour secretion of parathyroid hormone related peptide (PTHrP). Hypercalcaemia may be severe and refractory to conventional treatment....

PCOS is the most common endocrine disorder of premenopausal women. The in utero testosterone-treated ewe shares several key features with PCOS women (sub/infertility, multi-follicular ovaries, hypersecretion of gondotrophins and androgens) and, therefore, may be a useful animal model for this condition. In addition to reproductive abnormalities, PCOS women are at increased risk of hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance. The aim of this study was to determine if similar metab...