Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Pituitary disorders are associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Data on the prevalence of pituitary disorders is scarce. Formal routine coding of diagnoses in outpatient endocrine practice lags behind medical coding of inpatients. Standardised coding could improve our understanding of disease burden and highlight areas of increasing need within our services.Objective: Automatically extract and assign SNOMED codes for endocrine di...

Background: Generally Endocrinologists strive to diagnose conditions biochemically prior to radiological investigation. Pituitary incidentalomas are observed in 10% of pituitary MRIs and together with stress induced hyperprolactinaemia, 10–20% of patients receive dopamine agonists (DAs) without a definite diagnosis. Menstrual imbalance is a common symptom of hyperprolactinaemia which can have multiple origins (e.g. hypothalamic, pituitary or ovarian). DAs have side effect...

Aims: Endocrine Society (ES) acromegaly guidelines (2014) addressed complication screening. Uncontrolled acromegaly is associated with elevated cardiovascular mortality due to risk factors including hypertension (HT), diabetes mellitus (DM), obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), and with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and polyps among other types of neoplasias. We audited our clinical practice with regards to acromegaly complication screening.Methods: ...

Aim: Endocrine Society (2016) published guidelines for hormonal replacement in hypopituitarism. Central hypothyroidism (CH) is defined as fT4 below reference range and mild CH is defined as fT4 in the low-normal range with suggestive symptoms in the context of pituitary disease. In patients with panhypopituitarism levothyroxine in doses sufficient to achieve fT4 levels in the upper half of the reference range is recommended. In our centre...

Aims: Endocrine Society (ES) acromegaly guidelines (2014) addressed complication screening. Uncontrolled acromegaly is associated with elevated cardiovascular mortality due to risk factors including hypertension (HT), diabetes mellitus (DM), obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), and with an increased risk of colorectal cancer and polyps among other types of neoplasias. We audited our clinical practice with regards to acromegaly complication screening.Methods: ...

Aim: Endocrine Society (2016) published guidelines for hormonal replacement in hypopituitarism. Central hypothyroidism (CH) is defined as fT4 below reference range and mild CH is defined as fT4 in the low-normal range with suggestive symptoms in the context of pituitary disease. In patients with panhypopituitarism levothyroxine in doses sufficient to achieve fT4 levels in the upper half of the reference range is recommended. In our centre...

Introduction: Low dose radioiodine (LDRAI) has been used to treat benign thyroid disease for over 70 years (1). However, controversies remain about the optimal dosage to administer. The Royal College of Physicians guidelines recommend a dosage of 400–600 MBq for uncomplicated Graves’ disease (2); the dose administered varies between centres.Methods: Outcome data at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary were collected retrospectively for patients who receiv...

Case report: A 33-year-old pregnant Nigerian woman presented at 37 wks gestation with a 2-week history of frequent headaches and visual disturbance. She had persistent galactorrhoea following previous pregnancy in 1998, which settled after a short course of bromocriptine. On examination, she had classical bitemporal hemianopia. Her prolactin was raised at 19,220 mU/L (higher than expected in a normal pregnancy), random cortisol 553 nmol/L and thyroid function tests satisfactor...

Background /Methods: Adrenal incidentalomas pose a significant burden to endocrinology services in assessing the clinical significance of these lesions. Following vetting of the incidentaloma referrals, the patients at our centre are initially seen in a nurse-led clinic for biochemical investigations and to ensure completion of radiology assessment using a structured proforma. This step facilitates efficient patient flow and quicker decision making. The clinical outcomes of th...

Aims: 11C-methionine positron emission tomography co-registered with MRI (met-PET/MRI) is a new imaging technique used for functioning pituitary adenomas. In patients with persistent acromegaly after primary therapy, met-PET/MRI can help identify the site(s) of residual pituitary adenoma when MRI appearances are inconclusive and direct further targeted intervention (Trans-sphenoidal surgery-TSS or radiotherapy).<p class="ab...