Endocrine Abstracts

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine condition affecting women and is associated with hyperinsulinaemia and hyperandrogenism. Obesity is present in at least 30% of cases and plays a vital role in the development and maintenance of PCOS as well as affecting the severity of the clinical and endocrine features. Significant improvements in symptoms of androgen excess and ovulatory function are seen with even a modest weight loss of 5% in women with PCOS. M...

Pituitary apoplexy is uncommon and the incidence is quoted to be between 5 and 16% in pre-existing pituitary adenomas. Recurrent pituitary apoplexy is rarer; we report 2 such cases.A 22-year-old female underwent transsphenoidal resection of an expanding intrasellar lesion in 1987. She was commenced on hydrocortisone for cortisol deficiency and on subsequent follow-up, on thyroxine. She required repeated surgery in 2003 and 2005 after she presented with h...

A 37-year old woman developed grand-mal seizures shortly after having given vaginal birth at term. Three hours later, her newborn son also had a tonic-clonic seizure. Following the convulsions, maternal fractures of the humerus and the neck of femur were detected.The pregnancy had been uneventful except for hip pains for 4 weeks prior to delivery. For years, the patient had been ingesting 5 l of bottled water daily. Labour had set in spontaneously and sh...

Beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) is normally produced by syncytiotrophoblasts of the placenta and may also be secreted by germ cell neoplasms. An increase of serum hCG concentration in a male patient often suggests malignant neoplasms with a trophoblastic element. Common examples include classic seminoma with syncytiotrophoblast-like giant cells, combined germ cell tumour, and choriocarcinoma. Non-gestational choriocarcinomas typically arise from gonadal...

Paraganglioma syndromes (PGL) encompass a diverse group of rare neuroendocrine tumours that are characterised by hereditary predisposition and present unique diagnostic and management challenges. We performed an audit to assess the prevalence, presentation, testing, diagnosis, and treatment of these patients. We did a retrospective analysis of the genetic database and medical records of PGL patients diagnosed and managed at our hospital up till April 2023. A total of 119 cases...

Introduction: Anterior pituitary cells are characterised by functional lineages based on the expression pattern of transcription factors. Functional differentiation in the form of pituitary adenomas co-secreting ACTH and growth hormone is very rare. We report a case of multiple cell line pituitary adenoma resulting in acromegaly and ACTH dependent Cushing’s.Case: A 52-year-old woman of Ghanian origin (BMI of 57.5 kg/m2) presented with pro...

The VHL gene is a tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 3p25.3. Mutations in this gene prevent production of the VHL protein and as a result, cells grow and divide uncontrollably to form the tumors and cysts. Germline VHL gene mutations predispose to a variety of tumors, most commonly retinal and cerebellar haemangioblastomas, renal cell carcinoma and phaeochromocytoma. Papillary cystadenomas of the epidididymis are seen in 10–26% of men are rarely...

A 60 year old Caucasian woman presented with a three month history of rapidly enlarging neck swelling and hoarseness of voice. Her past medical history included Hypothyroidism. Her neck ultrasound scans showed 3.5 cm left thyroid nodule with bilateral lymphadenopathy (U5). The Fine needle aspiration (FNA) revealed densely grouped variable sized irregular epithelial cells with nuclear atypia and spindle shaped fragments with focal areas of lymphocytic thyroiditis. The different...

Section 1: Case history: A 39-year-old Asian lady at 18 weeks of gestation, after in vitro fertilisation pregnancy, was found to have an adjusted calcium level of 3.08 (range 2.20-2.60 mmol/l) on routine blood tests. She was asymptomatic. Her Parathyroid hormone (PTH) was 14.1 (1.1-6.9pmol/l) and 25 hydroxy vitamin D 16 (15-174 nmol/l). She had insulin treated diabetes following an episode of pancreatitis for which no cause was identified. She was treated as an inpati...

Case History: 41-year-old female presented with a 3-day history of fever, cough, and breathlessness. She had palpitations, diarrhoea and weight loss of 4-5 kg over 1 month. Graves” disease had been diagnosed 5 years prior to this episode and she had been treated with carbimazole but was not in remission. On this occasion, she was febrile and had atrial fibrillation. She also had right pleural effusion and bilateral pedal oedema.Investigations: Blood...