Endocrine Abstracts

Metformin 500 mg three times daily had been advised to our patients suffering from the polycystic ovary syndrome by the Rotterdam criteria who did not want to take contraceptive pills. More recently, we have included life style changes to metformin taking: increased physical activity, low glycaemic index diet (with calorie restriction for the obese). The efficacy of the two treatment forms was compared. The metformin only group consisted of 27 patients (age 18–39 years, m...

Carney’s Triad is a rare syndrome, with fewer than 30 cases reported with all three tumors (Gastrointestinal stromal tumor, extra-adrenal paraganglioma and pulmonary chondroma) present, and less than 100 cases with two of the three tumor types.We report a 45 yr old female who presented with bloating, dizziness, sweating and palpitations. Physical examination was unremarkable. Biochemistry showed a normal hormonal profile, 24 hrs urinary catecholamin...

We report two cases of seizures resulting from severe electrolyte imbalance.Case 1: A 48-year old lady with CREST syndrome and oesophageal dysmotility. She was admitted with diarrhoea and vomiting. Routine investigations including FBC, U&E, LFT, and CRP were normal. She later complained of pins and needles in her hands and around her mouth. Twenty-four hours later, she developed blurred vision, neck pain and generalised ache, was found drowsy, with p...

Endothelin-1 has various paracrine and endocrine effects on the male reproductive system. It is supposed that the testosterone is probably responsible for the higher endothelin-1 levels in males and this may be related with the enhanced cardiovascular risk in males of reproductive age. In order to study in more detail the relationship between endothelin-1 and testosterone, we have studied 37 male patients with various forms of hypogonadism (14 with hypergonadotrophic hypogonad...

A 26 year old lady presented to her general practitioner complaining of fatigue. Investigations showed serum potassium of 2.5 mmol/l, (reference range 3.3–4.7 mmol/l). This was repeated on two more occasions and was 2.6 and 2.8 mmol/l. An ECG showed no features of hypokalaemia. She was seen in Endocrine clinic with serum potassium of 2.5 mmol/l. There was no history of an eating disorder, laxative or diuretic abuse. Her father had type 2 diabetes. Her height was 1.56 m a...

Background: Hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance is observed in both lean and obese women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). This condition affects 52% of Asian Indian compared to 22% of Caucasian women. Lifestyle changes, particularly diet and exercise can significantly impact the future prevention of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidaemia and hypertension in these patients.Objectives: We hypothesised that regular intensive exercise would be effective i...

The majority of clinically palpable masses affecting the thyroid are benign. Malignant thyroid tumours are the commonest endocrine malignancies yet are rare. Most are of a single distinct cellular type, though mixed cellularity tumours also occur, the commonest of which is papillary and follicular. We describe 2 cases with more than one differentiated tumour in each thyroid gland.CASE 1A 44y builder with a family history of medulla...

A 27y old woman presented with a 2yr history of secondary amenorrhoea and mild hyperprolactinaemia. CT scan demonstrated an enlarged pituitary gland abutting the optic chiasm. Goldman perimetery was normal and trans-sphenoidal hypophysectomy undertaken. Post-operatively she suffered temporary diabetes insipidus responding well to desmopressin. At endocrine assessment, she was growth hormone deficient, had partial diabetes insipidus and a sub-optimal cortisol response. Desmopre...

Gynaecomastia in elderly males is relatively common and could be due to age-related endocrinological and metabolic disorders, drugs and other medical conditions. We report on the case of a 72 year old male smoker who presented with a 10 month history of painful unilateral gynaecomastia, lethargy and weight-loss. He had a past medical history of type 2 diabetes, atrial fibrillation, ischaemic heart disease, hypertension, stroke and monoclonal gammopathy. He was taking Clopidogr...

BackgroundA fear of rising serum prolactin concentrations (PRO) and pituitary tumour enlargement undoubtedly result in over-treatment of some patients with pathological hyperprolactinaemia. In recent years, our unit has adopted pragmatic criteria for discontinuing dopamine agonist (DA) therapy in selected patients. These include: small (or no) abnormality of pituitary imaging; presentation PRO<2,000milliunits per litre; small DA dose; stable PRO; women with a history of...