Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Central Serous Retinopathy (CSR) is a condition characterized by the accumulation of sub-retinal fluid at the posterior pole of the fundus, creating a circumscribed area of serous retinal detachment. It is associated with increased levels of endogenous or exogenous glucocorticoids and has been described in patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS).Here we report on two cases we recently managed in our unit, with central serous retinopathy ...

Conventional intramuscular preparations of testosterone esters are associated with wide fluctuations in serum testosterone (T) levels following administration, even when a lower dose (100 mg) is injected every 7–10 days, let alone 250 mg every 2–3 weeks. Depot Testosterone undecanoate [TU -Nebido] is a newly available option for androgen replacement. The possibility of achieving stable therapeutic serum T levels over a period of months is its principal attraction. Da...

Phaeochromocytomas (PCC) are rare neuroendocrine tumours of chromaffin cells that are characterised by autonomous production of catecholamines. Fundamental to the detection and diagnosis is the biochemical confirmation of excessive catecholamine production by the measurement of plasma or urinary catecholamines and metanephrines. Recently, plasma metanephrines have been shown to provide a high diagnostic sensitivity for the detection of catecholamine secreting tumours and unlik...

Historically, acute neurosurgical decompression has been considered treatment of choice for pituitary apoplexy with some studies advocating a conservative approach. We describe a patient, with reduced consciousness due to apoplexy of a gonadotroph adenoma, in whom there was spontaneous tumour shrinkage. A 68-year-old gentleman presented following a collapse with hypothermia, bradycardia and bitemporal hemianopia. Initial investigations showed low plasma sodium and glucose. Ove...

Carcinoid tumours are the commonest neuroendocrine neoplasms (NET) with a prevalence of less than one person per 100,000 population. The proliferative index (Ki67%) has a prognostic relevance for pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours, however its value in non-pancreatic NET tumours is unclear. Our retrospective audit was done to look at factors affecting survival. Medical records of 96 patients referred to our clinic since 1999 with a diagnosis of NET tumour (excluding pancreatic ...