Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction. We present a rare and unusual case of direct trauma to the pituitary region.History. A 22 year old female, 8 weeks post-partum, fell downstairs on to a metallic clothes drier. A metal spike 3mm wide and approximately 20cm long penetrated her right eyebrow. Computed tomography showed a haemorrhagic track involving the hypothalamic region, and extending to the left internal capsule. Irritability and instability of vital signs necessitated in...

Case History: A 60 year old female presented with anxiety and weight loss. Serum free T4 was 50 pmol/l (normal 12-23). Despite restoring T4 to normal, symptoms persisted and included flushing attacks. Urine 5-HIAA was elevated (182 micro moles/24 hrs; normal 0-40).Tests were done to locate the primary and secondary carcinoid tumour.Investigations: CT of thorax and abdomen, and ultrasound of abdomen were negative. Routine biochemistry and haematology were...

INTRODUCTION:True hermaphroditism is rare but has been reported in more than 400 individuals.Thediagnosis requires the presence of both ovarian and testicular tissue in either the same or opposite gonads.The external genitalia may simulate those of either a male or a female or may be ambiguous.Diagnosis and treatment at an early age is important .CASE REPORT:A 14 years old phenotypic ma...

INTRODUCTION: Hypertension with hypokalaemia suggests primaryaldosteronism, which is confirmed by high plasma aldosterone with low renin concentrations. CT and MRI scans frequently fail to detect small primary aldosteronomas, and may incorrectly identify ' incidentalomas', so adrenal vein sampling is needed.AIM: To review the clincal and biochemical results on 12 patients who had catheter sampling of adrenal and ivc aldosterone(A) and Cortisol (C)with calculation of Aldosteron...

Virilization in post-menopausal women is usually the result of androgen production by ovarian or adrenal tumours. Androgen secreting tumours account for less than 1 % of all ovarian tumours and include granulosa cell tumours, thecomas, lipoid cell tumours and luteomas. We present a case of an occult virilizing ovarian luteoma diagnosed by selective ovarian venous sampling.A 68 year old nulliparous woman presented with a 15 month history of hirsutism and ...

Alstrom syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterised by obesity, sensorineural deafness, cone-rod dystrophy and hypergonadotrophic hypogonadism. Diabetes in these patients is characterised by severe insulin resistance.We describe the management of diabetes in a 28 year old male patient with Alstrom syndrome and severe insulin resistance. Obesity developed early in childhood and at 3 years weight was 22.2 kg. Genetic studies revealed that the patient is a compo...

Aim: To ascertain the types of treatment, results and correlation between GH and the simultaneous IGF-1. Setting: Endocrine and Neurosurgical Unit. Methods: Endocrine and laboratory database of 17 acromegalic patients (11 male) with mean (SD) age 51(3) years and follow up 11 years. Results: Pituitary surgery 11 patients (3 twice), external radiotherapy 10 (one heavy particle therapy). GH levels have come down from a median value 32.5 mU per litre (Mean plus/minus SEM: 51.9 plu...

Pituitary apoplexy is a rare but potentially life-threatening condition caused by pituitary infarction or haemorrhage. We have retrospectively analysed 16 patients (10 male, 6 female) with pituitary apoplexy, who presented to our institutions between 1992-2002. The mean age at presentation was 49 years (range 24-72). Only two (12%) patients had previously known pituitary tumours. Pituitary apoplexy was precipitated by major surgery in two patients (coronary artery bypass graft...