Endocrine Abstracts

Background: An increasing number of studies assess quality of life (QoL) in patients with pituitary diseases. At present, available disease-specific QoL questionnaires do not completely cover the patient perspective of QoL. Furthermore, there are no disease-specific questionnaires available which inventories patient’s needs for help for impairments in QoL.Objective: To develop and validate a disease-specific QoL questionnaire for patients with pitui...

Recent Endocrine Society guidelines advocate IGF-1, random GH and nadir GH after oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) for assessment in acromegaly. In our regional centre the 24 h GH profile has also been used partly because of changing IGF-1 assay methodology but also because of concerns that IGF-1 may not adequately reflect partial therapeutic success. We evaluated 58 GH profiles in 35 patients from April 2008 to November 2012 when both GH and IGF-1 assays remained unchanged. ...

Chronic hypoparathyroidism affects ~2.5/10 000 individuals in the European Union and is classified as a rare disorder. There is limited knowledge of the natural history and epidemiology of this disease. Publications frequently represent a single center’s experience and information across the population of patients with hypoparathyroidism is lacking and needed. To fill the gap, a voluntary global hypoparathyroidism patient registry (PARADIGHM) was initiated by NPS Pharmace...

Background and aim: The Department of Health and NHS Plan both recognise that sending patients copies of clinic correspondence can help inform and empower them. At St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Endocrinology Clinic we routinely provide patients with a copy of the clinic correspondence sent to their General Practitioner (GP), unless patients specifically opt out. Our aim was to evaluate patients’ views on receiving such copy correspondence following ...

Introduction: Labour is an inflammatory process involving the innate immune system, premature activation of which, for example by infection, can lead to preterm birth before 37 weeks of gestation with profound pathophysiological consequences for the offspring. The putative antimicrobial protein HRPE773 (ZG16B) expressed in human female reproductive secretory epithelia, has been shown previously to be elevated in human endometrium during the menstrual early secretory phase and ...

Thyroid hormone resistance is a rare but recognised cause of clinical hypothyroidism. We explain a case of clinical hypothyroidism that was associated with thyroid hormone resistance.A 48-year Caucasian female with no known personal or family endocrine history was referred with a 12-month-history of weight gain and increased tiredness. Past history included depression and osteoarthritis, with regular medications being NSAIDs and amitryptiline. There was ...

Introduction: Hyponatremia (HN) is the most common electrolyte disorder of hospitalized patients (pts). It occurs in up to 28% of in-pts, increases the in hospital risk of death by 1.47 fold, and is associated with significantly higher mortality risk following discharge. The HN Registry is the first large scale, international effort to document the clinical characteristics, treatments used, and impact of HN in hospital settings.Methods: After informed co...

Context: Growth of meningiomas has been previously described in patients receiving oestrogen/progestogen therapy.Methods: Case history, laboratory findings, imaging and histology are discussed.Case history: A 45-year-old woman with a known history of 21-hydroxyase deficiency (of the non-salt wasting variety) and long-standing non-adherence with corticosteroid therapy presented to the Endocrine Clinic for follow-up care. She complai...

Background: Male hypogonadism is associated with reduction in bone mineral density (BMD). This study aimed to determine the epidemiology of low BMD in a clinic-based cohort of hypogonadal men.Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional observational study of 152 patients (≥18 years with testosterone(T) ≤11 nmol/L) who were consequently reviewed in an endocrine clinic. Data was extracted from electronic patient records and included base...

20% of cases of FIPA have AIP gene mutations. These adenomas are often large and invasive. Our index case presented aged 13 with pituitary apoplexy. Histology showed necrotic tissue. He continued to grow and was 195 cm 4 y later. GH excess was confirmed. After treatment with octreotide and radiotherapy remission was achieved. His first cousin had also been successfully treated for acromegaly. This led to the original familial diagnosis. Subsequently, the c.910C>T, p.R304X ...