Endocrine Abstracts

A 26 year old man of Angolan descent presented to the endocrine clinic with poorly controlled hypertension (systolic blood pressure >200 mmHg). He had been treated with Amlodipine for almost six years, and more recently the addition of Irbesatan and Indapamide had not led to adequate blood pressure control. His hypertension was diagnosed at age 19 and progressive features of Cushing’s disease had remained unnoticed, with truncal striae, easy bruising, myopathy, puffin...

A 69-year-old lady with a history of autoimmune diabetes mellitus and primary autoimmune hypothyroidism presented to the Specialist Diabetes Clinic with a significant inexplicable variation in her capillary blood glucose. She had been undergoing investigations with the gastroenterologists for nausea, vomiting, and weight loss. Despite extensive investigations including: oesophageal–gastro-duodenoscopy, CT–thorax, abdomen, pelvis scanning, and gastric emptying studies...

A 28-year-old woman presents with a one-year history of marked weight gain of 18 kg, increasing hirsutism and night sweats. Clinically, hyperandrogenism and Cushing’s syndrome were suspected. A diagnosis of Polycystic ovarian syndrome was made based on Rotterdam criteria and Metformin was initiated. Initial testing for Cushing’s syndrome demonstrated a high 24 h urinary free cortisol (306 nmol/l) with incomplete cortisol suppression on an overnight dexamethaso...