Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Non-enzymatic glycosylation of tissues damage the innervation of intrinsic foot muscles leading to diabetic neuropathy (DN), and an imbalance between flexors and extensors of the foot. This might derange the arches of the foot and predispose to foot deformity, prior to foot ulceration, and was investigated.Objective: To determine the variation in arch index (AI) and subtalar joint (STJ) range of motion in diabetic and non-diabetic conditions ...

Background: Subtyping of primary aldosteronism (PA) using imaging and adrenal vein sampling (AVS) can yield discordant results. Varying interpretation criteria in determining AVS lateralization may affect discordance rates.Methods: We identified 337 consecutive patients with PA who underwent AVS at a quaternary care centre between August 2006 and February 2018. Patient demographics, laboratory results, diagnostic imaging, AVS results, and pathology were ...

Background: Negative imaging in the work-up for unilateral (surgical) primary aldosteronism (PA) presents a diagnostic dilemma. Clinicians may assume bilateral disease and treat medically or may proceed to adrenal vein sampling (AVS) to try to localize a unilateral source of aldosterone secretion. However, AVS is not without cost, risk, and limited access. We describe AVS results among imaging-negative PA patients.Methods: We identified 96 patients with ...

Background: Generally Endocrinologists strive to diagnose conditions biochemically prior to radiological investigation. Pituitary incidentalomas are observed in 10% of pituitary MRIs and together with stress induced hyperprolactinaemia, 10–20% of patients receive dopamine agonists (DAs) without a definite diagnosis. Menstrual imbalance is a common symptom of hyperprolactinaemia which can have multiple origins (e.g. hypothalamic, pituitary or ovarian). DAs have side effect...

Introduction: Primary, non-motile, cilia are microtubule-based organelles that protrude from the cell membrane into the extracellular environment of virtually all nucleated mammalian cells. They function as signalling platforms involved in the transduction of extracellular stimuli and have an important role in cell cycle regulation. Disruption of primary cilia structure and therefore function has been identified in a range of cancers including kidney, breast, pancreatic and pr...

Research question: Are there ethnic differences in foetal growth patterns in GDM?Methods: Retrospective data collection was undertaken for all women with GDM between 2008 and 2012 at University Hospital Coventry. Foetal biometric data was obtained at 28, 32, and 36 weeks gestation for 125 South-Asian (SA) and 142 WC.Results: Compared to WC, SA had had lower BMI (28.5±6.1 kg/m2 vs 32.2±7.4 kg/m2), hei...

There is an accumulating amount of evidence that the metabolic adaptations to endurance exercise that result in increased intramuscular triglyceride (IMTG) stores and IMTG oxidation during exercise, also exert a protective effect on muscle insulin sensitivity. This seems to be a contradiction (known as the athlete's paradox) as large IMTG stores in sedentary and obese individuals coexist with high levels of fatty acid (FA) metabolites (specifically long-chain acylCoA, DAG and ...

Background: In May 2010 a dedicated Consultant-delivered Endocrine Telephone Advice Clinic (ETAC) was launched at St Bartholomew’s Hospital as a direct point of access for primary care doctors to obtain endocrine advice about new patients. The proposed benefits of this clinic were to: 1. Reduce unnecessary clinic attendances that could be managed in primary care. 2. Allow for more detailed and less hurried discussions of non-urgent cases than was possible via the on-call ...

Background: SPT are late effects of childhood PFBT. Low dose radiation scatter at the edge of craniospinal field has traditionally been blamed for meningiomas and thyroid tumours but the effect of chemotherapy, genetic predisposition and GH replacement on their prevalence is less clear.Methods and aims: As part of a descriptive study of long term (>10 years) functional, endocrine and cognitive outcomes in 36 (20 males) adults aged 21.2 (16–32) y...

A 24-year-old Asian lady with no past medical history was admitted under the surgical team with right sided abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, postural dizziness and weight loss. She was give trimethoprim for a possible urinary tract infection along with paracetamol, tramadol and diclofenac. Blood tests on admission demonstrated normal renal, liver and thyroid function, a normal C-reactive protein and full blood count and a low sodium of 131 mmol/l. An abdominal ultrasound w...