Endocrine Abstracts

Aim: To evaluate the management of patients with hyperthyroidism against recommendations of the American Thyroid Association (ATA).Methods: The case records of all new patients referred with hyperthyroidism, 02.05.2009–01.04.2011, were analysed (n=33), against recommendations of ATA.Results: 73% of the subjects were women. 24% patients had Graves’ disease, 18% MNG, 18% thyroiditis, 15% ‘autoimmune hyperthyr...

Aims: We set out to dispel the commonly held myth that endocrine practice in district general hospitals is dominated by thyroid disease. A local questionnaire revealed trainees felt thyroid disease made-up >50% of DGH referrals.Methods: We reviewed consecutive new patient referrals to our endocrine clinic over a 2-year period. We documented the referral and outcome diagnosis and looked at the distribution of these referrals across the areas of the en...

We describe two similar but distinct cases of newly presenting coexistent adrenocortical insufficiency and type 1 diabetes.Case 1; an 18 yr old woman presented with a two week history of polydipsia, polyuria and accelerated weight loss. Random glucose 20.2 mmol/L but no evidence of ketoacidosis. She was thin, pigmented, hypotensive and dehydrated and confirmed one years weight loss, lethargy, abdominal pain and occasional vomiting. Short synacthen test c...

Aims: To assess the diagnosis and management of patients with thyrotoxicosis in a district general hospital comparing with American Thyroid Association (ATA) recommendations.Methods: Retrospective study, electronic case notes of patients referred to the endocrine clinic between May 2009 and April 2011 (n=148) were reviewed. A pro-forma was designed collecting details of demographics, investigations, diagnosis and treatments received.<p class...

Background: Raised prolactin is a frequent reason for referral to endocrine clinics. Prolactinomas are the most common functioning pituitary tumours. Medical management with dopamine agonists remains the treatment of choice. MHRA advises baseline echocardiograms within 3–6 months and then 6–12 monthly in patients taking dopamine agonists due to a potential risk of cardiac valvular fibrosis though the evidence for fibrosis at endocrine doses remains limited. Aim: The ...

A 28-year-man originally from Africa presented with short stature. His height at first clinic visit was 128 cm and there was no family history of short stature. He had pale complexion, lack of facial/body hair and under-developed secondary sexual characteristics consistent with morphology of hypopituitaric dwarfism. Insulin stress test with adequate hypoglycaemia<2.2 mmol/l confirmed flat growth hormone (GH) response (peak <0.5 mU/l) and inadequate cortisol response (p...

Central diabetes insipidus (CDI) is an uncommon disorder characterised by a deficiency of arginine vasopressin. There are many causes of CDI including traumatic, infiltrative, inflammatory and neoplastic disorders of the pituitary or hypothalamus. CDI may be associated with a pituitary stalk lesion or thickening. Such thickening is commonly related to lymphocytic infundibular hypophysitis (LIH) or other granulomatous infiltrative disorders.We present a s...