Endocrine Abstracts

Atheroma is accelerated in overt hypothyroidism (OH) and possibly in subclinical-hypothyroidism (SCH), and is not completely explained by increased LDL-cholesterol. There is little data available regarding post-prandial metabolic changes in OH or SCH.Subjects with OH (n=21), SCH (n=28) and age, sex and BMI matched controls (n=50) were studied fasting and for up to 8-h following a mixed-meal. Investigations included apolipoprotein(apo...

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important complication of diabetes and determinant of mortality. Albuminuria represents early diabetic nephropathy, and also indicates generalised vascular dysfunction. Understanding the epidemiology of CKD and albuminuria helps inform health planning and identify opportunities to prevent or delay progression of diabetic kidney disease. The last available serum creatinine and urine albumin/creatinine ratio (UACR) in patients with Type 1 (T1DM...

Background: Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor foratherosclerosis (1,2). Elevated plasma total homocysteine(t-Hcy) levels havebeen described in primary hypothyroidism (3,4). Subclinical hypothyroidismhas also been found to be associated with atherosclerosis (5).Hypothyroidism decreases hepatic levels of enzymes involved in theremethylation pathway of homocysteine and renal excretion of t-Hcy (6,7).The present study evaluates t-Hcy in sub...

Adrenal mineralocorticoid biochemistry differs between people of African and European ancestry. The aldosterone/renin ratio (ARR) is the initial screening test for primary hyperaldosteronism (PHA), but little data exists regarding ethnic variations in this.Following clinical observation of a high prevalence of abnormal ARR in patients of African origin, we retrospectively reviewed all ARR measurements in a single centre over 10 years. Rates of hypokalaem...

We present the case of a thirty five year old salesman in whom microscopic haematuria was detected during a routine employment medical. History and physical examination were unremarkable. A renal ultrasound initiated by the urology service revealed an upper abdominal mass. CT abdomen confirmed a 5x6cm lesion distinct from the right kidney and adrenal gland. A CT-guided biopsy precipitated a hypotensive crisis (90/60mmHg) and hypoglycaemia (blood glucose 2.3mmol/l). 24-hr urina...

Introduction: Short synacthen test (SST) has become the standard method of assessing the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. However, there are still variances in practice with regards to performing and interpreting this test in particular the need for measuring cortisol level at both time 30 and 60 min.Methods: A retrospective review of 500 consecutive SST performed at a University teaching Hospital in Dublin between 2005 and 2012. Seru...