Endocrine Abstracts

The P300 wave is an event related potential which is used to assess cognitive function, it is recorded as positive deflection in voltage at latency of roughly 300 ms. P300 latency suggests that shorter latency times are related to cognitive performance. This study was undertaken to evaluate objectively effect of hypothyroidism on latencies of ERPs and response to thyroxine replacement.Biochemically proven new onset cases with hypothyroidism were enrolled...

Objectives: To evaluate the precipitants of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and to audit its management in a busy District General Hospital following the introduction of local guidelines.Methods: Data on all patients admitted with DKA between January 2003 and March 2004 were collected and analysed and clinical management was audited against the standards set in the guidelines.Results: Seventy eight episodes were recorded in 70 patients...

Objectives: To evaluate the precipitants of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and to audit its management in a busy District General Hospital following the introduction of local guidelines.Methods: Data on all patients admitted with DKA between January 2003 and March 2004 were collected and analysed and clinical management was audited against the standards set in the guidelines.Results: Seventy eight episodes were recorded in 70 patients...

Background: The symptom triad of ’headaches, palpitations and sweating’ along with elevated urinary catecholamine levels are commonly used to diagnose phaeochromocytoma. We wanted to assess how often patients with histologically verified phaeochromocytoma did not have this triad or had normal urinary catecholamine excretion on one occasion or more.Methods: Retrospective analysis of clinical presentation and urinary catecholamine levels in 75 pa...

Oncogenic osteomalacia is a rare paraneoplastic phenomenon characterised by abnormal phosphate metabolism typically caused by discrete benign tumours. Due to the indolent presentation and slow progression, diagnosis is often delayed and localisation of the tumour can prove difficult. We present the case of a 64-years-old gentleman who was investigated by the endocrinology department for hypophosphataemia. Three years prior to this, he had started to experience exertional fatig...

Activating mutations in the gene encoding β-catenin have been identified in the paediatric form of human craniopharyngioma (adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma, ACP), an aggressive pituitary tumour accounting for up to 10% of paediatric intracranial tumours. Recently, we generated an ACP mouse model and revealed that, as in human ACP, nucleocytoplasmic accumulation of β-catenin (βcat-nc) and over-activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway occurs only in very fe...