Endocrine Abstracts

Follicular variant papillary thyroid cancer (FV-PTC) appeared to be the most common subtype representing between 9 and 22.5% of all PTC cases. With the dramatic increase in thyroid cancer incidence, FV-PTC has also been increasingly diagnosed in recent times. Despite its high incidence, the clinical behaviour, prognosis and outcome of FV-PTC remains controversial and challenging for most physicians. This study aims to compare the disease characteristics of FV-PTC with Classic-...

Introduction: Somatostatin analogues (SSAs) are the mainstay treatment for carcinoid syndrome. ELECT is a large multinational phase 3 study evaluating rescue therapy use as a measure for control of carcinoid syndrome symptoms with LAN-ATG.Methods: Eligible patients had histologically-confirmed GEP-NETs and history of carcinoid syndrome, and were SSA-naïve or responsive to conventional doses of octreotide LAR (≤30 mg/4 weeks) or short-acting (&...

Widespread use of CT and MRI scan has led to the identification of incidental adrenal tumours. The need to determine functionality often results in a battery of investigations that are a drain to scarce resources and are frequently normal. Studies to identify tumour radiological features that suggest functionality and hence enable targeted investigations are few in the literature. To this effect we set out to analyse which features on imaging that are best predictive of functi...

A 67-year-old lady with a 3-year history of Graves’ hyperthyroidism complicated by florid Graves’ ophthalmopathy attended the thyroid clinic at University Hospital Birmingham for routine follow up. Her thyrotoxicosis had been managed with long-term carbimazole treatment with good control. Her past medical history included coeliac disease and hypertension. On clinic review, she appeared acutely confused and disorientated and had evidently lost weight. Her family repor...

Background: In recent years, the role of vitamin D in improving the profile of inflammatory markers in order to prevent and treat diabetic neuropathy and microcirculation disorders has been actively studied.Aims: The research goal was to study the dynamics of inflammatory markers, clinical manifestations of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and laser Doppler flowmetry of skin microcirculation during treatment with various doses of cholecalciferol in patient...

Background: Hyponatraemia is the most common electrolyte abnormality, encountered in up to 30% of inpatients. Inappropriate management can have serious implications for patients; including demyelinating disease, coma, and death.Methods: Patients (n=122) admitted to the medical admission unit of a district general hospital with a serum sodium (Na) <130 were selected for the study. All details including patient demographics, blood bio...

Introduction: Aldosterone is a potent adrenal steroid hormone which regulates renal sodium reabsorption and potassium secretion. Clinically, measurement of aldosterone is important to identify patients with primary hyperaldosteronism, and has traditionally been performed by immunoassay. The specificity of immunoassays is often poor due to antibody cross reactivity to other structurally related steroid hormones, resulting in falsely elevated concentrations. To overcome these li...

GH influences multiple metabolic pathways. Excess GH (acromegaly) causes a distinct form of cardiomyopathy, which may progress to fulminant heart failure. AMPK is an energy conservation enzyme that modulates multiple areas of the cell stress response, inhibiting anabolism and promoting catabolism. AMPK is activated by phosphorylation at Thr172 and measurement of Thr172 phosphorylation is thought to correlate with enzyme activity. We investigated the influence of GH on cardiac ...

Introduction: Patient with chronic periodontitis (CP), especially those with its advanced forms, have higher cardiovascular risk compared to those with healthy periodontium. They are also characterized by higher hs-CRP levels, greater left ventricular mass, greater intima-media thickness. Adiponectin, a hormone excreted by fat tissue, is involved in insulin sensitivity regulation and in atherosclerotic processes. The aim of the study was to assess a relationship between chroni...

Background: Iodine-131 (I-131) has been used to treat hyperthyroidism for half a century. Recent recommendations from the RCP London and British Thyroid Association suggest 400 MBq in most cases, but 500–600 MBq for toxic multinodular goitre (MNG). We have reviewed our clinic data with particular reference to response to a standard dose, 400 MBq, given to treat hyperthyroidism.Method: Casenotes of 88 patients who received 400 MBq I-131 for hyperthyr...