Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: Prolactinomas can extend out of the sella turcica and invade surrounding structures and the brain. The prevalence and natural history of epilepsy at presentation of macroprolactinoma is not clear.Methods: The case records of 62 patients (34 male) with macroprolactinoma attending a neuroendocrine clinic were studied.Results: Four patients (6.5%, 3 males) had experienced epileptic seizures before the diagnosis of macropro...

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is an important growth factor, simulating the process of angiogenesis which is required for tumour progression. It mainly acts through 2 receptors VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2. Whilst the presence of VEGF has been shown in pituitary adenomas, no study has undertaken the quantification of the expression of VEGF121, VEGF165, VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2, and whether their expression may correlate.METHODS. We have used the technique of quantitative RT-...

Aims: The majority of patients with Cushing's disease have pituitary microadenomas and preoperative localization can be helpful during transphenoidal surgery. Inferior petrosal sinus sampling (IPSS) of ACTH and responses to CRH may show higher levels on the side ipsilateral to the tumour, although this remains controversial. A few small studies suggested a prolactin response to CRH during IPSS. We assessed whether prolactin responses to CRH can help lateralize the microadenoma...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of untreated growth hormone deficiency (GHD) over 2 yrs in elderly patients with hypothalamic-pituitary disease. Controls were also followed for 2 yrs.SUBJECTS: 27 patients (>65 yrs) with GHD (mean) peak stimulated GH 1.6 mIU/l(range 0.6-5)were initially studied. Two yrs later 21(13 males) agreed to attend for reassessment. 27 controls (>65 y) were studied at baseline and 17 (7 males) agreed to attend for reassessmen...