Endocrine Abstracts

We present a case of Graves' disease in association with hemiagenesis of the thyroid gland.A 61 years old Caucasian man presented with light-headedness, proximal muscle ache and tiredness. Past medical history was unremarkable.Examination revealed a resting tachycardia. There was no goitre, and no evidence of Graves' ophthalmopathy.Thyroid profile revealed an FT4 of 42 picomoles per litre (11-24) and a TSH of...

Acromegaly is a rare disorder which the Royal College of Physicians/Society for Endocrinology Guidelines-Pituitary Tumours (1997) suggest should be referred to a specialist centre if suspected. We audited the diagnosis and management of acromegaly in our unit (population covered 250 000) over a 10-year period (1997–2007). Twelve patients (6 male, 6 female), mean age 48.5 years (29–69) were confirmed as having acromegaly. The mean time from referral to first clinic vi...

Insulin resistance has been suggested to have a pathogenic role in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The use of insulin sensitising drugs might therefore have a therapeutic role in its management.We studied 20 patients (mean age 32.6 years) with PCOS (diagnosed by the Rotterdam Consensus Workshop group criteria, 2003) before and after treatment with metformin (1.5–3 grams daily) for 6 to 12 months.Clinical features studied wer...

Hyperandrogenism of adrenal origin evidenced by elevated dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) levels has been reported in 20% to 30% of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.We studied 50 patients with PCOS (defined by the Rotterdam Consensus Workshop group criteria, 2003). Adrenal hyperandrogenaemia was defined as a DHEAS level> 10.5 micromoles/litre was found in 10 patients (20%). Clinical features studied were body mass index (BMI) and hirsut...

A 78-year-old female presented with acute onset of severe headache and vomiting. Sub arachnoid haemorrhage was suspected but a CT brain scan was ‘normal’ and CSF bilirubin absent.Three months later she complained of lethargy and a thyroid function test suggested secondary hypothyroidism. Further investigations confirmed partial hypopituitarism (growth hormone preserved) and review of the previous CT scan suggested the presence of a pituitary ma...

Cushing’s syndrome is a rare endocrine disorder which the Royal College of Physicians/Society for Endocrinology Guidelines – Pituitary Tumours (1997) suggest should only be differentially diagnosed in centres with appropriate technical and enocrinological expertise. We conducted an audit against these guidelines of the management of Cushing’s syndrome in our unit (population covered 250, 000) over the 3-year period between January 2003 and January 2006. Aetiolog...