Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The cost of liothyronine (T3) has significantly increased, possibly affecting prescription practices.Methods: An online questionnaire was designed to assess current T3 use by UK endocrinologists and to determine whether the price increase resulted in a change in primary care prescription practices. Consultant grade members of the Society for Endocrinology Thyroid Network were invited to partake.Results: Re...

Background: The cost of liothyronine (T3) has significantly increased, possibly affecting prescription practices.Methods: An online questionnaire was designed to assess current T3 use by UK endocrinologists and to determine whether the price increase resulted in a change in primary care prescription practices. Consultant grade members of the Society for Endocrinology Thyroid Network were invited to partake.Results: Re...

Introduction: Patients with complex health care needs and severely limited communication and mobility may be less likely to participate in research studies, and may find continued participation in such studies challenging. Allan Herndon Dudley syndrome (AHDS), due to defective thyroid hormone transporter (MCT8), causes severe neurological and physical disability. A multicentre trial (the TRIAC trial) studying the efficacy of the thyroid hormone analogue TRIAC in this rare cond...

The reported incidence of thyroid dysfunction associated with interferon-α (IFNα) treatment for hepatitis C infection varies widely between countries.1 To our knowledge the spectrum of thyroid dysfunction in IFNα-treated Irish patients has not been described outside of an anti-D-related, hepatitis C-infected cohort.We reviewed thyroid function tests (TFTs) from all Hepatitis C positive patients undergoing IFNα treatment ove...

Background and Aim: Approximately 1500 people attend the Beacon Health Check Department annually involving a panel of blood tests being screened. Our aim was to compare what percentage of this asymptomatic population have diabetes or were pre-diabetic and what percentage of these were undiagnosed and therefore untreated conditions.Methodology: This audit was a retrospective review of data collected from patients attending the Beacon Hospital Health Check...

Recent literature suggests anterior pituitary hormone deficiency (APHD) is common in paediatric patients with idiopathic cranial diabetes insipidus (CDI); this has been attributed to autoimmune panhypopituitarism.1 We therefore determined the frequency of coexisting APHD and autoimmune disease in our cohort of patients with idiopathic adult CDI.Eight patients with idiopathic CDI were reviewed (6 females mean age at diagnosis 30 years, range 7&...

Case history: A 42 year old male teacher presented to the emergency department with an acute right MCA infarct, on a background of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation/flutter and recurrent supraventricular tachycardia. He had chronic palpitations, with previous failed cardiac ablation. He had no other medical history, specifically, no history of ear infections or learning difficulties. There was no known family history of thyroid dysfunction. Previous TSH levels (no FT4 measurement...

Mutations in THRA, a ligand-inducible transcription factor, cause Resistance to Thyroid Hormone α (RTHα). RTHα manifests with features of hypothyroidism (skeletal dysplasia and growth retardation, neurocognitive impairment, low metabolic rate, reduced intestinal transit) reflecting hormone resistance in TRα-expressing tissues, but associated paradoxically with near-normal circulating TH levels. The lack of clear-cut, abnormal thyroid function tests...

Background: Immune checkpoint (CTLA-4, PD-1) inhibitors are increasingly used to treat cancers including advanced melanoma. Although endocrine immune related adverse events (IRAEs) are now well reported, the frequency and type of thyroid and pituitary dysfunction reported varies considerably, with hypophysitis after CTLA-4 inhibitors reported in 2–16%, and thyroid dysfunction after PD-1 inhibitors in 2–39%. In addition, recove...

Context: Primary aldosteronism (PA) accounts for 5–10% of all hypertension and 20–25% of refractory cases. Diagnosis is important as PA is associated with increased morbidity and mortality compared with ‘essential’ hypertension, and up to 50% of patients may benefit from unilateral adrenalectomy. Screening requires measurement of plasma renin activity (PRA) or concentration (PRC), and plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC), to yield an aldosterone:renin rat...