Endocrine Abstracts

Hyponatraemia is associated with adverse outcomes including increased mortality and risk of falls. It is not previously known whether hyponatraemia, on discharge from hospital, is associated with an increased risk of readmission.We conducted a retrospective cohort study identifying all patients admitted to a UK teaching hospital as emergency general medical admissions over a 2-month period. We identified all readmissions within 28 days of discharge and c...

Hypoglycaemia in non-diabetic patients has a multitude of causes from exogenous insulin to paraneoplastic syndromes. We explore the importance of obtaining a ‘golden sample’, a serum blood sample, during the episode of hypoglycaemia, prior to reversal with treatment. The case herein describes a patient with recurrent episodes of unexplained hypoglycaemia which precipitated several hospital admissions. Standard screening tests did not detect any obvious cause for his ...

Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational, cross sectional and longitudinal studies of sleep apnoea syndrome in acromegalic subjects to determine a) prevalence b) effect of treatment and c) relationship to GH and/or IGF-1.Method: A PubMed search using ‘(acromegaly) AND (sleep apnoea)’ as search terms was performed with subsequent hand searching of relevant papers. Cross sectional and longitudinal studies were ...

Introduction: Food reward stimuli elevate dopamine levels in brain reward circuits. Decreased dopaminergic signalling may be involved in pathophysiological processes leading to obesity and D2 receptor antagonists (antipsychotics) are associated with a higher risk of obesity. One study has demonstrated an association between the use of a dopamine D2 agonist (bromocriptine) and weight-loss in patients with prolactinoma. We have investigated the effect of cabergoline on body weig...

A 30-year-old Eritrean female presented with a 1 month history of nausea and vomiting, with 15 kg weight loss but no bowel disturbance. Past medical history included an open cholecystectomy. There was no family history of mineral or bone disorders. She denied any prescribed/over-counter medication and abstained from alcohol. Examination revealed marked cachexia (BMI 16.1 kg/m2). ECG revealed ST depression and T wave inversion.Investigations in...

Introduction: Hyperprolactinaemia associated with antipsychotic drug use is a commonly encountered clinical problem, yet no decision-making tools exist to guide whether to scan the pituitary gland.Methods: A 10-year data series was reviewed of 246 patients who were evaluated for prolactin excess with a cannulated prolactin study. All patients had a prolactin drawn immediately following the insertion of a forearm cannula (P1) and a second sampl...

Mutation in the genes encoding subunits of the succinate dehydrogenase enzyme complex, SDHB, SDHC and SDHD are associated with an increased risk of developing adrenal or extra-adrenal phaeochromocytoma and cervical paraganglioma. However, the penetrance in large kindreds has seldom been reported and the optimal screening for asymptomatic carriers has not been determined.The index case had a previous history of carotid body tumour and later died with meta...

We recently reported the impact of continous s.c. hydrocortisone infusion (CSHI) on weight, patient AddiQoL scores and healthcare cost savings on five patients. This poster is to follow up on all our patients experiences since started on the CSHI as well as qualitative feedback on the impact on their lives.This poster also gathered key points on how these patients managed their adrenal crisis....

Case history: A 49-year-old teacher presented to his GP with lethargy and lower limb weakness. He had noticed polydipsia and polyuria, and had experienced weight loss albeit with an increase in central abdominal fat mass. He had previously undergone cholecystectomy and colonic polypectomy. He took no regular medications. Investigations: He had hypercalcaemia 3.34 mmol/l with PTH of 356 ng/l and hypokalaemia 2.7 mmol/l and was admitted for intravenous flu...

Introduction: Hyponatraemia is a common biochemical abnormality, complicating up to 15% of all hospital admissions and associated with increased mortality. Hypernatraemia, occuring less frequently, is strongly associated with mortality and is almost always due to a free water deficit. There is limited data about hospital healthcare burden of these two relatively common electrolyte imbalances. We analysed the length of stay, for acute admissions, with reference to the admission...