Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Hyponatraemia is known to be associated with significantly increased mortality in hospitalised patients. We identified the number of cases of hyponatraemia referred for an endocrine opinion in our hospital, examined the causes present, and assessed how the speed of referral to endocrinology could affect the management. Methods: Inpatient referrals were audited over a 6-month period from 1st October 2021 to 30th April 2022. Data regarding the ...

A 61-year-old lady presented to her general practitioner in July 2018 with weight loss, loose stools, hair loss, increased anxiety and dry eyes over several weeks. Blood tests revealed Graves’ thyrotoxicosis (TSH< 0.10 mU/l, (RR) 0.30-5.50 mU/l; Free T4 (fT4) 26.1 pmol/l, RR 11.5−22.7 pmol/l; Free T3 (fT3) 11.8 pmol/l, RR 0.0-7.0 pmol/l, thyroid receptor antibodies >40.0U/l, RR 0.0-1.8 U/l; thyroid peroxidase antibodies 173.0 iu/ml, RR 0.0-33.9 iu/ml). There...

Objective: The diagnosis of subclinical Cushing’s syndrome in patients with incidentalomas is not always straight forward and a number of different criteria have been used. The 1 mg overnight dexamethasone suppression test has been recommended as a screening test, followed up by other tests of the hypothalomo–pituitary–adrenal axis to confirm the diagnosis. In this study we investigate whether the low-dose dexamethasone suppression test offers additional informa...

A 26-year-old Caucasian female presented at 14 weeks gestation with a 6-week history of lethargy, nausea and vomiting during her first pregnancy. Her adjusted Calcium was 4.12 mmol/l and parathyroid hormone (PTH) 26 pmol/l, consistent with possible primary hyperparathyroidism. She was previously well apart from occasional migraines. There was no known history of familial hypercalcaemia or MEN. Other biochemistry results revealed hypokalaemia of 3.2 mmol/l, low vitamin D at 16 ...

We present the case history of a 62 year old male, who was recently diagnosed with sarcoidosis which was confirmed on biopsy of a calf nodule. CT scan revealed pulmonary involvement. Our patient had low vitamin D 12 nmol/l (nr 50–100) and initial adjusted calcium was 2.48 mmol/l (2.13–2.63). DEXA bone density scan revealed osteopenia. He was commenced on loading dose of colecalciferol 40,000 units weekly and received 3 doses. He presented 1 month later with polydipsi...

Background: The Endocrine Society clinical practice guidelines suggest use of the 1 mg overnight dexamethasone suppression test (ONDST) to screen for cortisol excess in patients with adrenal incidentalomas, followed by the 48-h, 2 mg/day, low-dose dexamethasone-suppression test (LDDST), to confirm a positive result. Visceral fat accumulates in cortisol-excess and accounts for increased cardiovascular risk. In this study, we investigate whether the LDDST offers additional infor...