Endocrine Abstracts

A 51 year old female patient presented in 2000 with a 7 month history of diarrhoea and weight loss. Bloods revealed hypokalaemia (1.9). Infection and malabsorption screen negative, but patient remained hypokalaemic despite maximum iv and oral replacement. No abnormality was found endoscopically. Fasting gut hormone profile showed raised Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP) >400 (NR <30). CT scan confirmed 5cm mass in body of pancreas, no metastatic disease. Response...

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a high grade cutaneous neuroendocrine tumour. They are a rare and often aggressive form of skin cancer, with increasing incidence in the elderly. MCC often presents as a firm, red/purple – coloured painless nodule with a short, aggressive history of increasing size. Wide local excision recommends 1-2cm margins, and deep clearance beyond that usually advised for keratinocytic skin cancers, but can have major cosmetic and functional implicatio...

Introduction: Many patients who present with symptoms of possible neuroendocrine tumour, start their journey with cross sectional scans to look for malignancy as part of their diagnostic workup. Often, especially with advances in functional imaging, subtle abnormalities are now visible causing diagnostic challenges. Our case details one such potential pitfall and acts as a reminder to consider broad imaging differentials when reviewing patients scans.Cas...