Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Withdrawal of dopamine agonist (DA) therapy in the management of microprolactinoma is common practice. It is unclear however which patients are likely to attain long term remission.Aims: The aim of this prospective study was to identify clinical factors that might predict long term remission.Subjects: Fourty subjects (39 female, aged 24–60 years) with microprolactinoma; all had been normoprolactinaemic on DA therap...

Background: Dopamine agonist (DA) withdrawal is common in the management of microprolactinoma. Guidelines in 19971 and 20062 suggest that DA should be withdrawn after normoprolactinaemia for 3 years.Aims: To assess DA withdrawal and adherence to guidelines.Methods: We retrospectively examined casenotes from 1997 to 2008. Patients were included with clinical and biochemical evidence of hyperprolactinaemia, and ...

The multisystem disorder POEMS (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes) is a rare plasma cell dyscrasia. Elevated cytokines may contribute to its pathogenesis. We describe a POEMS patient with elevated plasma cytokines and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS).A 39-year-old white woman with IgA lambda and IgG kappa paraproteinaemia, peripheral axonal sensorimotor neuropathy, moderate anascara, skin thickening a...

Hyponatraemia is a common biochemical abnormality associated with significant mortality. However, adequate investigation and accurate diagnosis are frequently lacking. We have evaluated the assessment and management of severe hyponatraemia in a large teaching hospital. Inpatients with a plasma sodium (pNa) <125mmol/L were identified prospectively by laboratory database, over a 6 month period. Notes were examined and data extracted. Data was also retrospectively reviewed by ...

Hyponatraemia is one of the commonest biochemical abnormalities in hospitalised patients, and is generally associated with a poor outcome. Large controlled studies of severely hyponatraemic patients are however unusual. From our biochemistry laboratory database we prospectively collected all patients with a sodium (Na) <125 mmol/L over a 6 month period (n=104).For each hyponatraemic case, a normotraemic control was chosen as the next sequential patient in time on the labora...