Endocrine Abstracts

A 63 year old lady born in Ghana was referred by her general practitioner for assessment of secondary hyperparathyroidism. She had corrected calcium of 1.93 (N: 2.18–2.47 mmol/L), PTH72.2 (N: 1.1–6.9 pmol/L) and alkaline phosphates of 324 (30–100 IU/L). Her GP described her to be very conscious about her weight and she virtually lived on fruits and vegetables. She has history of hyper tension and was on alpha-blocker. Examination revealed BMI of 29 Kg/m2</s...

BackgroundCurrent techniques to study the early stages of follicular development (i)in vitro(/i) are handicapped by the spontaneous wholesale transition of primordial to primary follicles and by primary follicle arrest. We have circumvented this problem by culturing fragments of ovarian cortical tissue on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of chick embryos and shown it to be successful for the (i)in ovo(/i) culture of cortical slices from a variety of sp...

Current techniques to study (i)in vitro(/i) the early stages of follicular development are handicapped by the spontaneous wholesale transition of primordial to primary follicles. Implantation of ovarian tissue into SCID mice is possible but expensive. We have, therefore, adapted a model first described in 1958. Fragments of ovarian cortex are implanted on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of 5-6 day old fertilised chick eggs. The membrane is rich in blood vessels and results ...

A 26 year old lady presented to her general practitioner complaining of fatigue. Investigations showed serum potassium of 2.5 mmol/l, (reference range 3.3–4.7 mmol/l). This was repeated on two more occasions and was 2.6 and 2.8 mmol/l. An ECG showed no features of hypokalaemia. She was seen in Endocrine clinic with serum potassium of 2.5 mmol/l. There was no history of an eating disorder, laxative or diuretic abuse. Her father had type 2 diabetes. Her height was 1.56 m a...

The majority of clinically palpable masses affecting the thyroid are benign. Malignant thyroid tumours are the commonest endocrine malignancies yet are rare. Most are of a single distinct cellular type, though mixed cellularity tumours also occur, the commonest of which is papillary and follicular. We describe 2 cases with more than one differentiated tumour in each thyroid gland.CASE 1A 44y builder with a family history of medulla...

A 27y old woman presented with a 2yr history of secondary amenorrhoea and mild hyperprolactinaemia. CT scan demonstrated an enlarged pituitary gland abutting the optic chiasm. Goldman perimetery was normal and trans-sphenoidal hypophysectomy undertaken. Post-operatively she suffered temporary diabetes insipidus responding well to desmopressin. At endocrine assessment, she was growth hormone deficient, had partial diabetes insipidus and a sub-optimal cortisol response. Desmopre...

BackgroundA fear of rising serum prolactin concentrations (PRO) and pituitary tumour enlargement undoubtedly result in over-treatment of some patients with pathological hyperprolactinaemia. In recent years, our unit has adopted pragmatic criteria for discontinuing dopamine agonist (DA) therapy in selected patients. These include: small (or no) abnormality of pituitary imaging; presentation PRO<2,000milliunits per litre; small DA dose; stable PRO; women with a history of...

A 26-year-old Caucasian female presented with nausea, intermittent abdominal pain and amenorrhoea of 3 months duration. She was known to have Von Hippel–Lindau disease (Exon 3A/T 742 mutation) and had undergone surgery for cerebellar haemangioblastoma. She also had presumed dermoid cyst in right ovary which had been monitored by ultrasound. Ultrasound revealed an increase in size and vascularity of right ovarian cyst. MRI scan revealed it to be a 6.3 cm lobulated mass in ...

A 30 year-old man was assessed for gynaecomastia. He had been treated for GH deficiency from the age of 3 to 16. His non-consanguineous parents were of short stature (maternal height 1.22 m, paternal height 1.58 m), as was a half-sister (1.55 m). The patient’s height was 1.55 m with an arm span of 1.48 m and his BMI was 31. Testicular volume was 18 mL and secondary sexual characteristics were normally developed. Lipomastia was diagnosed and subsequently treated surgically...

A 23 year-old male was assessed for recommencement of growth hormone replacement therapy. He had discontinued treatment a year ago but not experienced any adverse symptoms since.The patient had been born with multiple congenital malformations. Midline defects included oesophageal atresia, imperforate anus and partial sacral agenesis. Urogenital abnormalities required a left nephro-ureterectomy soon after birth and an orchidopexy was performed at the age ...