Endocrine Abstracts

Context: Disease processes that affect the pituitary stalk are broad, ranging from indolent lesions requiring simple observation to severe lesions with significant implications. Diagnosis and management of these lesions remains unclear.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical presentation, biochemical and pathology characteristics of pituitary stalk thickening lesions and their association with specific MRI features in order to provide...

Rathke’s cleft cysts (RCC) arise from the embryonic remnants of Rathke’s pouch in the anterior pituitary gland. The majority are asymptomatic and incidentally diagnosed when the pituitary is imaged for other reasons. RCCs can progress to requiring surgical intervention for hormonal and structural effects. It is unclear what factors determine RCC enlargement and over what period this occurs, hence need for long term follow-up is uncertain. We analysed our conservative...

Case history: A 57-year-old male with well controlled primary hypertension presented with acute onset severe headache while exercising, associated with nausea and vomiting. He had no visual or other neurological symptoms. The pain settled with analgesics in ED. He reported four transient similar episodes during the preceding 18 months. There were no symptoms suggestive of pituitary or other endocrine dysfunction, including hyperprolactinaemia. Clinical examination was unremark...

Hypopituitarism is a potential complication of trans-sphenoidal adenomectomy (TSA). Prediction of pituitary function (PF) recovery would inform hormonal replacement strategies. However, the frequency of re-testing of PF is variable across centres. The aim of this study was to determine rates, time and predictors of 6-weeks (6 w) recovery of hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal (HPA) and gonadal function after TSA.Methods: We performed a single-centre, retrospec...