Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: We present the outcome for the first 21 patients undergoing neuronavigation–guided, endoscopic transphenoidal surgery for pituitary dependent Cushing’s disease in our centre since August 2001. All operations were consecutive, and undertaken by the same neurosurgeon and endoscopic nasal surgeon.Methods: Records are available for 20 cases. Pre and post operative management of cases was led by the endocrine team with standard assessm...

Background: Untreated Cushing’s disease has a high mortality rate. Transsphenoidal surgery is usually first line treatment and in the hands of a skilled experienced surgeon can achieve a cure rate of up to 80%. For those with recurrent or un-resectable disease, a combination of external beam radiotherapy, stereotactic radiotherapy, repeat transsphenoidal surgery, bilateral adrenalectomy and chemotherapy may be used. We investigated the safety and efficacy of stereotactic ...

Background: Botulinum neurotoxin inhibits muscle function by interfering with neurotransmitter release from secretory vesicles. The mechanism underlying this effect involves cleavage of SNARE proteins which are required for vesicle docking at the plasma membrane. The ability of botulinum neurotoxin serotypes to cleave SNARE proteins and inhibit secretion is being exploited for therapeutic purposes by Syntaxin Ltd with their ‘targeted secretion inhibitor technology’ (...

Introduction: Selective transsphenoidal microadenomectomy (TSS) is the first-line treatment of paediatric Cushing’s disease (CD). Corticotroph adenomas in children are often small and difficult to visualize. We aimed to assess the utility of pituitary MRI and bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS) in confirming the diagnosis of CD and the localisation of the adenoma. We also report our early experience of STEALTH MRI (volumetric T1 weighted, contrast-enhanced ...