Endocrine Abstracts

Nerve sheath tumours originate from myelin that surrounds peripheral nerves and include schwannomas and neurofibromas. They can occur sporadically or as part of neurofibromatosis 1 or 2. Very rarely, they have been described to arise from the viscera including the adrenal gland. It is thought that they arise from Schwann cells around nerve fibres that supply the adrenal medulla. These are rather slow growing and non-functioning adrenal tumours that can be found incidentally or...

Phaeochromocytomas are rare neuroendocrine tumours with an incidence of 2–8/million persons per year. They occur as a sporadic entity or form part of a complex autosomal dominant familial genetic syndrome, mainly MEN2A, MEN2B, Neurofibromatosis Type1, Von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) and mutations in succinyl dehydrogenase. The mean age at diagnosis is in the third decade in the familial cases and the risk of recurrence has been described as high as 23%.<p class="abste...

Various haematological abnormalities have been reported to be associated with treatment of hyperthyroidism. The Association between neutropenia and untreated hyperthyroidism has been described although the aetiology is unknown, but thought to be related to autoimmunity.Case: A 41 year old Nepalese lady presented with a three month history of poor sleep and loss of weight. She was found to be thyrotocxic with T4 of 64 mol/l (10–24), T...

Silent corticoptroph adenomas (SCA) are pituitary tumours positive on immunohistochemical staining for ACTH but without clinical evidence of hypercortisolism. They account for 1.1–6% of surgically removed pituitary adenomas. Most tumours are macroadenomas with suprasellar extension present in 87–100% of the cases. They present with mass effects and this is in contrast to Cushing’s disease, which is mostly attributed to microadenomas. Reports suggest that these t...

Transient mild hyperthyroidism is fairly common in women with hyperemesis gravidarum, occurring in up to two-thirds of them. It is also a well known fact that pregnant women with severe hyperemesis gravidarum can progress to develop Wernicke’s encephalopathy. Hyperthyroidism, without any other risk factors, has been described to accelerate the process of thiamine depletion as well. This is much less recognised.We describe the case of a 32-year-old P...

Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD) is an X-linked, widely heterogeneous, neurodegenerative disorder of peroxisomal metabolism characterised by the accumulation of very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA). A mutation in the ABCD1 gene is responsible. ALD has both a neurological and an endocrine interface as VLCFA deposit in the central and peripheral nervous system as well as the adrenal cortex and testis. ALD can present in childhood with a cerebral form or later in life as an adrenomyelon...

Hypercalcemia is uncommon in lymphoma, it is generally a feature of histologically high grade disease with other aggressive clinical features, such as the presence of B symptoms and an elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The mechanism of hypercalcaemia is unknown but there is strong evidence for humoral factors that may or may not be related to parathyroid hormone (PTH).Case: A 92-year-old lady who was found to have incidental hypercalcaemia (calcium 2...