Endocrine Abstracts

Graves' disease appears to be the clinical result of an autoimmune attack on thyroid tissue however the immune defect and triggering events remain unclear. The inflammatory process in multiple sclerosis (MS) is mediated by CD4 T lymphocytes. Campath-1H, a monoclonal antibody against the CD52 antigen of CD4 T cells, improves disease activity in MS and is associated with development of Graves' disease in one-third of patients. Thus Campath-1H provides an interesting insight into...

BACKGROUND: Dynamic function tests are needed to diagnose a range of endocrine disorders but often require in-patient investigation. A recent audit of our endocrine service revealed deficiencies that included frequent delay to investigations and cancellation of planned appointments. We developed an Endocrine Nurse Specialist (ENS) post whose role included carrying out endocrine testing in an out-patient setting to assess whether this might improve quality of care for our patie...

BACKGROUND: An audit of facilities and medical and surgical care based on the 1997 Royal College of Physicians and Society for Endocrinology guidelines for the management of pituitary tumours was carried out in the South West in 2001. We present the results for patients referred to one specialist pituitary surgeon in Plymouth.METHODS: 1. A questionnaire was sent to each endocrinology department covering staff resources, facilities for investigations and the process of care...