Endocrine Abstracts

This study is designed to test the hypothesis that the gonadotrophinresponses to GnRH are heterogeneous and that, in pituitary/parapituitary lesion patients, the test is of no value as a diagnostic discriminator.We carried out a 5-year retrospective review of GnRH results from a cohort of 104 male (46) and female (premenopausal 49, post-menopausal 9) patients with pituitary/parapituitary lesions. Serum LH and FSH levels were measur...

Introduction: haemangiopericytoma is a rare soft tissue tumour originating from pericytes and manifest rarely as hypoglycaemia that can be difficult to treat. We report a case of haemangiopericytoma induced hypoglycaemia treated successfully with radiotherapy.Case report: A 72-year-old lady presented with an episode of confusion. She had had similar episodes usually in the early morning hours. She had had a large bladder haemangiopericytoma removed surgi...

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the investigation of choice for patients with thyroid nodules in secondary care. Ideally the following standards should be met: assessment within 2 weeks of referral; FNAB performed in the first visit; consent obtained and documented; communication of the result in person.A cohort of 64consecutive patients (57 female) was identified. The median age was 49 (16-78). Thyroid function tests were normal in 89% of patien...

Objectives: To define clinical and metabolic factors associated with severe hypoglycaemia (SH) in affected individuals with Type 1 diabetes (T1DM).Methods: Individuals with T1DM and SH (defined as hypoglycaemia requiring third party intervention within the preceding 12 months) were characterised to include screening for other underlying autoimmune disease (coeliac serology, short synacthen and thyroid function tests); a questionnaire to evaluate underlyi...

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the investigation of choice for patients with thyroid nodules in secondary care. Ideally the following standards should be met: assessment within 2 weeks of referral; FNAB performed in the first visit; consent obtained and documented; communication of the result in person.A cohort of 64consecutive patients (57 female) was identified. The median age was 49 (16-78). Thyroid function tests were normal in 89% of patien...

Preadipocytes differentiate into mature adipocytes when treated with insulin, T3, isobutylmethylxanthine and dexamethasone but the role of their autocrine factors in their survival and function has only recently been appreciated. We have examined the expression and role of autocrine FGF-2 during preadipocyte differentiation. Using human preadipocytes isolated from subcutaneous fat, we induced differentiation in differentiation medium with and without the insulin-sensitising dr...

A 41 year old woman presented with a 4 month history of oropharyngeal spasms precipitated by eating, yawning or talking. Such manouvres caused her to fear for her life due to profound choking and 'going blue';as a result she had stopped eating. On direct questioning she complained of circumoral tingling, paraesthesia and carpopedal spasm. She described profuse diarrhoea over the preceding year and had lost 15 kilograms. She was taking no drugs to interfere ith calcium homeosta...

A 91year-old woman was admitted after collapsing at home. She was an ex-smoker with history of chronic obstructive airway disease (COAD), atrial fibrillation , osteoporosis and colonic polyps. On examination, she had clinical signs of chest infection with normal blood pressure and no significant postural drop .Blood glucose was 2.6 millimoles pre litre on admission. Further serial plasma glucose estimations revealed persistant fasting hypoglycaemia( 1.9 to 2.6 millimoles per l...

IntroductionTestosterone replacement for hypogonadism comes in a variety of galenical forms. Side effects include prostatic enlargement and polycythaemia. Furthermore careful scrutiny for prostatic carcinoma is essential. We audited 205 male patients from one clinical centre to assess dose, frequency and complications profile and the effectiveness of biochemical and haematological monitoring. Data of this type in a group of this size has not been previously published.M...

Patients with acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) but not those with porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) have a reported predominance in urine of 5 beta-reduced androgen metabolites over 5 alpha epimers. Steroids of 5 beta- androstane and pregnane types induce delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) synthase in chick embryos in vitro, so altered 5-reduction may predispose to attacks. We have comprehensively examined urine androgen and cortisol metabolites by gas-liquid chromatography and uri...