Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Adrenal venous sampling (AVS) is the criterion standard method of lateralisation in primary aldosteronism (PA). Despite this pivotal role, there is limited consensus and significant variability between centres related to many of the technical aspects of AVS. In this study, we sought to address whether variations in two different technical aspects of AVS altered parameters and interpretation, namely: 1. Peripheral sample site 2. Method of adrenal vein (AV) venesec...

Introduction: Selective transsphenoidal microadenomectomy (TSS) is the first-line treatment of paediatric Cushing’s disease (CD). Corticotroph adenomas in children are often small and difficult to visualize. We aimed to assess the utility of pituitary MRI and bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS) in confirming the diagnosis of CD and the localisation of the adenoma. We also report our early experience of STEALTH MRI (volumetric T1 weighted, contrast-enhanced ...

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy with limited treatment options and a heterogenous prognosis. The histological diagnosis of ACC is complex and there is increasing interest in identifying and validating new immunohistochemical markers. Delta-like non-canonical Notch ligand 1 (DLK1) is a cleavable single-pass transmembrane protein. In humans, DLK1 is present in many tissues during foetal development, is restricted to progenitor/stem cells in a few adult tissue...

Background: After adrenalectomy (ADX) for primary aldosteronism (PA), approximately 30% of patients achieve clinical success (normalisation of home BP); many additional patients report feeling subjectively better. We used the non-randomised MATCH study1 to further assess quality of life (QoL) changes in participants.Objective: Assess QoL using the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) after surgical treatment of unilateral PA and medical treatment of ...

Primary aldosteronism (PA) is the potentially curable cause of high-risk hypertension in 5-10% of unselected patients. Diagnosis and lateralisation of PA is challenging and complex. Outcomes post total adrenalectomy, the standard treatment for unilateral aldosterone producing adenomas (APAs), are variable. Between 30-60% are cured (1), but prediction of outcome is unreliable, and some patients are reluctant to have abdominal surgery to remove a whole adrenal gland. Endoscopic ...

Introduction: Germline AIP and MEN1 mutations are the main known aetiologies of familial pituitary neuroendocrine tumours (PitNETs), which represent 5% of all PitNETs. We compared the clinical and tumour characteristics of AIP (AIP mut) and MEN1 mutation-positive (MEN1 mut) PitNET patients.Methods: We retrospectively analysed 70 MEN1 mut and 167 AIP mut patients with PitNETs. MEN...

Acromegaly causes a distinct cardiomyopathy. Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) limits cardiac response to exercise and increases cardiac mortality. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is considered the gold standard for assessment of cardiac mass and provides data on function, fibrosis, valves and ischaemia. Twenty-three patients with abnormal GH levels (acromegaly, n=13; adult-onset GHD, n=10) and 23 matched controls underwent CMR. Patients had repeat CMR at ...

Objective: To review the diagnostic features and localization accuracy of different investigations for insulinomas diagnosed 1990–2009 at a single tertiary referral centre.Design: A cross-sectional, restrospective analysis, including sporadic tumours and those in multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes.Methods: Case notes and investigation results were reviewed from patients with biochemically or histologically-proven insulinom...

It is known that acromegaly may be associated with headache as a significant co-morbidity. Amongst all acromegaly headache patients, there is a unique group with specific types of severe headache that fail to improve despite acromegaly therapy and are resistant to conventional analgesics, however, immediately respond to subcutaneous short-acting (SA) somatostatin analogue (SSA) treatment. We have surveyed 8 tertiary specialist UK centres and identified 18 patients (6 females) ...

Acromegaly, a chronic disorder of excessive growth hormone secretion, leads to functional limitation and impaired mobility most commonly due to arthropathy. Patients with biochemically controlled acromegaly have reported persistent impairment in prior studies. We aimed to compare the functional differences in patients with biochemically controlled acromegaly to those with uncontrolled disease by means of validated questionnaires. Between March 2017 and May 2022, patients over ...