Endocrine Abstracts

Water balance disorders following neurosurgery are well recognised and may give rise to both hypo- and hypernatraemia. We present the case of a 42-year-old male who developed a triphasic response after extended transsphenoidal surgery for a pituitary stalk lesion. The patient presented with a 4 month history of unremitting frontal headaches and dizziness. MRI confirmed a 15×15 mm stalk lesion. Clinical examination including formal visual perimetry was unremarkable. Blood ...

A 49 year old male, known to suffer from hypertension, was bein investigated for recurrent occipital headaches. An MR Brain showed a 2.4 cm×2.8 cm×4.2 cm sellar mass with suprasellar extension, optic chiasm compression, infrasellar extension with erosion into the sphenoidal sinus, lateral extension into the left sided cavernous sinus and further extension through the cavernous sinus into the parietal lobe. The tumour contained some cystic areas and moderately enhance...

Introduction: The sequelae of surgically treated non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) is an important area of study to help plan management. The aim was to study all Maltese patients who had a surgically treated NFPA and analyse the results of surgery, risk factors for tumour recurrence/regrowth and the role of postoperative radiotherapy.Materials and methods: One hundred and seventy-five patients were identified as having a NFPA of whom 77 had unde...

Background: Despite being benign, craniopharyngiomas are challenging tumours to manage and can cause significant morbidity and mortality in both the paediatric and adult population.Method: Our aim was to analyse epidemiology, patient characteristics and long-term sequalae through a population-based study in Malta. A thorough research was carried out to identify patients who were diagnosed with craniopharyngioma in our local population. Subjects were iden...

BackgroundHypercalcaemia is commonly encountered during clinical practice. SCCOHT is a rare ovarian malignancy typically found in young women. In two thirds of patients, it causes a paraneoplastic hypercalcaemia which is usually asymptomatic.Case ReportA thirty-seven-year-old lady, presented to casualty with a one -week history of worsening nausea, vomiting, anorexia, abdominal pain, polydipsia, and polyuria....

Phaeochromocytoma/paragangliomas (PPGLs) are relatively rare tumours and the health burden of such tumours is not very well known.Aim: This population based study aims to characterise all the phaeochromocytomas, paragangliomas and adrenal medullary hyperplasia diagnosed between 2007 and 2016 in Malta; looking into presentation, hormonal analysis, imaging characteristics and histology findings.Results: 16 ...

Phaeochromocytoma/paragangliomas (PPGLs) are relatively rare tumours and the health burden of such tumours is not very well known.Aim: This population based study aims to characterise all the phaeochromocytomas, paragangliomas and adrenal medullary hyperplasia diagnosed between 2007 and 2016 in Malta; looking into presentation, hormonal analysis, imaging characteristics and histology findings.Results: 16 ...

The patient is a 45 year old gentleman known case of HIV seropositivity (well-controlled, undetectable viral load) and polycystic kidney disease, who was referred to our Endocrine clinic by the Infectious disease specialists in view of a 4 year history of erectile dysfunction (ED – preceded diagnosis of HIV) and a low testosterone level. During the first consultation, the patient reported occasional lethargy and long term nausea which was attributed to his retroviral trea...

A sixty-four-year old lady with a past medical history of total thyroidectomy for Graves’ disease and atrial fibrillation on amiodarone was referred to the endocrine out-patients in view of hypothyroidism. Since starting amiodarone, the TSH was noted to be elevated at 75 mU/l and the free T4 was 18 pmol/l. The patient complained of non-specific lethargy and was administered levothyroxine 50 mcg daily. Despite this her TSH remained elevated at 147 mU/l with a free T4 of 17...

Pituitary apoplexy arises when haemorrhage and/or infarction occurs within a pituitary tumour. In Malta, the estimated standardised incidence rate (SIR) of apoplexy is 0.15/100,000/yr. ACTH secreting pituitary adenomas have a SIR of 0.17/100,000/year.Case Report: A 46 year-old gentleman with a history of poorly controlled diabetes mellitus was referred following the diagnosis of a pituitary adenoma. He had presented with a 1.5 year history of left third ...