Endocrine Abstracts

The use of high doses of the ergot-derived dopamine receptor agonists such as cabergoline for treatment of Parkinson’s disease has been associated with increased prevalence of echocardiography detected cardiac valve disease. Whether smaller doses of cabergoline used for treating endocrine disorders causes similar valvular abnormalities is not yet conclusively established.We conducted echocardiographic screening of 35 adult endocrine patients on curr...

A 27-year-old woman presented with a 6-week history of weight loss, excessive thirst, nocturia and lethargy. She had no significant past medical or family history. At presentation she was unwell, tachycardic and had a blood pressure of 174/100 mm Hg. Physical examination was otherwise unremarkable. Her urine dipstick was strongly positive for glucose and ketones. The plasma glucose was 21.7 mmols/l. An arterial blood gas showed a pH of 7.35 and bicarbonates of 23. She was trea...

A 73-year-old woman presented with hypoglycaemic collapse and a capillary blood sugar of 0.7 mmol/l and required continuous intravenous dextrose to maintain euglycaemia. There was two-week history of night sweats and overnight snacking. One year previous, the patient had been diagnosed with a gastric adenocarcinoma and had undergone a sub-total gastrectomy and chemo-radiotherapy. Physical examination was unremarkable. Liver function was normal except an elevated alkaline phosp...