Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Medical research suggests individuals with KS are visibly different and likely to be affected by their appearance. This can be associated with increased social stigma and increased psychological morbidity. This can undermine an already fragile self esteem, potentially increasing the risk of social isolation, resulting in further psychological distress. This study qualitatively explored the experiences of men living with a diagnosis of KS.Meth...

Pre-operative localisation of insulinomas is essential prior to resection. Many imaging modalities have been used. Angiography is well described for localising neuroendocrine tumours and the use of selective intrarterial calcium injection to stimulate insulin release with simultaneous sampling of insulin levels in the hepatic vein has been shown to allow localisation of the tumour to particular vascular territories, even when other modalities have not been helpful.<p class...

A 55 year old lady presented to our hospital in 1991 with a year's history of diarrhoea, weight loss and abdominal pain. On examination, she had 5cm hepatomegaly. Serum gastrin was elevated (148 pmol per litre NR < 40), as was GAWK (276 pmol per litre NR < 150). Basal gastric acid secretion was increased (39 mmol per hour NR < 5). CT abdomen showed multiple hepatic metastases, confirmed to be neuroendocrine in origin on biopsy. There were no clinical or biochemical fe...

Background: Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are involved in growth and metastatic spread of tumours. Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) play a key role in angiogenesis through proliferation of endothelial cells. VEGF-C has been identified as the molecular link between tumour lymphangiogenesis and metastasic spread.Objective: To (1) analyse microvascular density (MVD) and lymphatic vascular density (LVD...

Eliciting an accurate diagnosis of Cushing's disease before transphenoidal hypophysectomy is essential to avoid unnecessary surgery. Localisation of the tumour increases the chance of operative success.In the right hands, Inferior Petrosal Sinus Sampling (IPSS) can provide invaluable information in distinguishing ectopic ACTH from pituitary Cushing's and localising the tumour in patients who are known to have Cushing's syndrome. Due to the invasive natur...

A 29 year old woman was admitted to her local hospital with haematemesis, and found to be hypercalcaemic. A peptic ulcer was confirmed and she was commenced on omeprazole. There was biochemical evidence of primary hyperparathyroidism and a single-gland parathyroidectomy was performed. During her admission, a diagnosis of gastrinoma was suspected, but an attempt at measuring fasting gut hormone concentrations off omeprazole therapy resulted in gastro-intestinal perforation. She...