Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The National Patient Safety Alert (2020) and introduction of the NHS Steroid Emergency Card has led to the development of guidelines, publications and patient information, aiming to improve safety and management of adrenal insufficiency and prevention of adrenal crisis. Health Education England (HEE), ‘Plain English’ and NHS England guidance recommends patient information is accessible and clear to a broad range of people, to ensure patients are fully awa...

Background: Patients and carers encounter a range of diabetes multi-disciplinary team (MDT) members. Patients in focus groups have indicated that nurses are more approachable than doctors1, and the presence of specialist nurses in the MDT improves glycaemic control2. Nurses are perceived to be the core providers of diabetes care but this has not been quantified, nor have the perceived roles of other members of the MDT been explored....

Decrum’s disease or adiposis dolorasa is a rare progressive syndrome of unknown aetiology. It is characterised by painful fatty deposits, general obesity, weakness and unexplained emotional disturbance.1We describe a case of a 55-year-old man who presented with pneumonia. On examination he was noted to be overweight and have multiple skin nodules. His chest X-ray was abnormal; he underwent further workup with a CT thorax/abdomen/pelvis. T...

The IGF axis is imperative for normal placental development and function. In the human placenta, IGF1R regulates the actions of IGFs and consequently placental growth. Some microRNAs (miRs) are also known to regulate human placental growth. miR-145 is known to exert its effects on human placental growth by targeting IGF1R. Whilst the expression of some components within the IGF axis are similar between mice and humans, murine expression and function of IGF regulatory miRs has ...

Introduction: Glycemic control has a major effect on fetal growth in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), worse control leading to increased growth (large for gestational age (LGA) or very large for gestational age (VLGA) fetus). Current guidelines promote strict control (HbA1c ≤ 48 mmol/mol) before and during pregnancy. Continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) has been instrumental in achieving this goal. We performed a retrospective chart review of pregnancy outcomes ...

Background: Glycaemic control and duration of diabetes mellitus play an important role in delaying or preventing diabetic retinopathy. NICE guidelines state that for type 1 diabetes, those aged 12 years and over must be offered annual retinopathy screening. This audit aims to assess compliance with the guidelines and the prevalence of retinopathy.Methods: This was a retrospective audit of paediatric diabetic patients registered to Good Hope Hospital atte...

We present a case of a 29-year-old lady who presented with subfertility. She had had a 2 years history of oligomenorrhoea with highly irregular menses. She had symptoms of depression and described tunnel vision. Clinically, she was euendocrine with no features of hormonal excess or deficiency. She was not hirsute. Visual field testing demonstrated a severe left superior temporal quadrantopia.Laboratory investigations demonstrated an oestriadol level rang...

Aim: To determine the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in Asian patients with type 2 diabetes and to determine the most appropriate screening investigations.Introduction: The high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and type 2 diabetes in the Asian community is well recognised. Vitamin D insufficiency (levels < 50 nmol/l) is associated with impaired insulin secretion and increased insulin resistance. The prevalence of Vitamin D insufficiency in p...

Introduction: Pituitary – dependent Cushing’s disease accounts for approximately 80% of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome but a target lesion is only detectable on MRI in 60% of cases. 11C-methionine PET CT improves detection of indeterminate pituitary lesions. Osilodrostat is a novel steroidogenesis inhibitor which reduces cortisol levels with resultant rise in ACTH and may further enhance the sensitivity of 11C-methionine PET CT in difficult cases...

Background: Peri-operative guidelines (POG) published early 2020, were followed by the NHS National Patient Safety Alert (NatPSA) and launch of the NHS Steroid Emergency Card (SEC) in Aug 2020. The NatPSA was sent to all NHS health and care providers. This survey was undertaken to assess the implementation and impact of both.Methods: A pilot survey was undertaken at Endocrine Nurse Update 2022 and amended survey emailed ...