Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Ectopic Cushing’s syndrome constitutes the second most common paraneoplastic syndrome and has been seen in 1-5 % of small cell lung cancers. It has a poor prognosis and can present with life-threatening complications.Case: We present a 66-year-old lady who attended with peripheral oedema, bruising and visual blurring. Past medical history included bronchiectasis, oesophageal web, ischemic colitis, Ehlers Danlos syndrome, and hypoxic br...

Introduction: Cortisol has numerous actions on glucose metabolism and insulin action which explain the frequency of glucose abnormalities in Cushing’s syndrome (CS). The aim of our work was to assess the prevalence and characteristics of diabetes in CS.Material and methods: This is a retrospective study concerning 51 CS (44F/7M) in whom we looked for the presence of diabetes either by fasting glycaemia or 75 g oral glucose tolerance test. Thereafter...

Obesity is a major cause of chronic hypoventilation and/or obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of pulmonary dysfunction and the relationship between OSAS and several clinical, functional and polysomnographics parameters in severely obese patients. 101 subjects (68 females and 33 males) aged 49.2±13.2 years (mean±S.D.), with BMI 46.8±6.5 Kg/m2 were enrolled. Sleep quality and daytime ...

Introduction: As an alternative to cortisol assays in the serum or saliva to diagnose hypercorticisme we evaluated the ability of a commercial cortisol assay to assess capillary blood cortisol concentrations using routine procedures.Methods: Capillary blood was obtained using a device used by diabetics to routinely assess capillary glucose levels and deposited on Schleicher-Scheull 903 blotter paper (routinely used for neonatal diagnosis of hypothyroidis...

IntroductionDeQuervain’s subacute thyroiditis (DST) is a rare pathology, defined by the involvement of the thyroid gland by an inflammatory process probably of viral origin, not suppurative and not autoimmune. In this context, we report 4 cases of TSD followed up in the endocrinology department over a period of 23 years, to highlight diagnostic and therapeutic particularities.ResultsThe average age was 3...

Objective: Despite combination with peripheral decarboxylase inhibitors significant amounts of L-dopa are peripherally metabolised. In patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) treated with L-dopa and a dopa decarboxylase inhibitor, urinary dopamine concentrations are markedly elevated. We describe here a L-dopa treated PD patient presenting with a clinical and biochemical picture suspicious of phaeochromocytoma.Case report: A 73-year-old female patien...

Objective: We reviewed perioperative management of patients undergoing adrenal surgery at UHS between 1/12/2020 to 1/6/2022 (19-month period) since formalisation of its regional adrenal MDT.Results: 45 adrenalectomies were performed during this period with all cases being discussed at the adrenal MDT, of which 24 (53%) were referred from peripheral hospitals. Laparoscopic surgery was performed in 35/45 (78%) (median length of stay (LOS): 3d), open in 10/...

Hypoparathyroidism is a rare endocrine deficiency due to inadequate amounts of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and is characterised by hypocalcaemia and hyperphosphataemia. Current management regimens with large amounts of oral calcium and active vitamin D do not adequately control mineral homeostasis and can lead to complications in many patients. The phase III REPLACE and RELAY clinical trials established the efficacy and safety of once-daily s.c. injection of r...

Introduction: Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) causes autoimmune destruction of insulin producing b-cells, affecting approximately 8.4 million individuals worldwide. Autologous stem cell derived b cell (sc-b cell) transplantation is a promising treatment, however receipient immunological responses remain a challenge. This pilot study utilised mass cytometry (CyTOF) to assess immune responses in co-cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with autol...

Sweet syndrome is a febrile dermatosis characterized by painful light red patches of quite different size involving various skin zones associated with flu like symptoms, arthralgias and rarely frank arthritis. Originally considered rare, over 500 cases in the past 10 years have been described. The etiology of Sweet’s syndrome is unknown, but a type of hypersensitivity reaction leading to stimulation of a cascade of cytokines has been strongly suggested. In very few cases ...