Endocrine Abstracts

Dynamic pituitary testing is a time consuming and high cost investigation. For effective use of this procedure a close audit of the effectiveness and outcome of testing is required. At UCH we have developed a streamlined nurse led service with medical supervision and we now present an audit of 1 year of testing.Forty-one patients underwent pituitary function testing for growth hormone (GH) and ACTH during 2006. Referral source was from the endocrine team...

Aims: To compare bone mineral density (BMD) and stature between women with androgen insensitivity syndrome and women with gonadal dysgenesis.Settings: Adult Intersex Clinic.Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study of three groups of women aged 17-58 years with varying degrees of exposure to sex hormones and different combinations of sex chromosomes. Forty-six subjects had complete androgen insensitivity syndrome and 46XY [CAIS(X...

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of mortality in women with Turner Syndrome(TS), and may be congenital or acquired. There is a high prevalence of risk factors for ischaemic heart disease(IHD) including hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes and obesity. This oestrogen dose-ranging vascular physiology study compared women with TS (n=14) and 46,XX gonadal dysgenesis(GD) (n=11) to determine the relative contributions of oestrogen deficiency and genetics, and to assess the...

Cardiovascular disease is the major cause of mortality in women with Turner Syndrome(TS), and may be congenital or acquired. There is a high prevalence of risk factors for ischaemic heart disease(IHD) including hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes and obesity. This oestrogen dose-ranging vascular physiology study compared women with TS (n=14) and 46,XX gonadal dysgenesis(GD) (n=11) to determine the relative contributions of oestrogen deficiency and genetics, and to assess the...

IntroductionWomen with Turner Syndrome (TS) have an increased risk of diabetes mellitus (DM), both types 1 and 2, and obesity is a common problem. This study aimed to characterise the relationship between markers of obesity and metabolic factors which might predispose to DM.MethodAnthropometric and fasting metabolic assessments were performed in 56 non-diabetic women with TS and 24 control women (mean±...

IntroductionCardiovascular complications are the main cause of increased mortality in Turner Syndrome (TS). We have previously described a high prevalence of occult aortic dysmorphology in women with TS. The aim of this study was to introduce a classification system for the variety of appearances seen by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Method98 women (median age 29.0, range 18.1-64.2 years) underwent MRI scanning of the aorta. MRI appearances were correlated with ...

The results of transsphenoidal surgery for acromegaly by a single neurosurgeon (MP) operated between 1981 and July 2002 were examined retrospectively. 141 database and case note records for patients with a clear pre-operative diagnosis of acromegaly were reviewed. Patients with incomplete pre- or postoperative data on growth hormone (GH) status were excluded from further analysis (n=14). The remaining 127 formed the audit group.Pituitary imaging data was available in 84 of...

The excess androgen levels in women with PCOS may be ovarian and/or adrenal in origin and one proposed contributing mechanism is an alteration in cortisol metabolism. Increased peripheral cortisol metabolism, either by enhanced inactivation of cortisol by 5alpha-reductase or impaired reactivation of cortisol by 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11bHSD type 1), results in decreased negative feedback suppression of ACTH secretion maintaining normal plasma cortisol concentrations...

Pituitary apoplexy is a rare condition caused by haemorrhage or infarction into a pituitary tumour. The majority of patients do not have any identifiable triggering event, although situations altering the blood flow to the pituitary gland and pre-existing systemic hypertension have been identified as potential causal factors.We retrospectively reviewed the presentation and outcome of 15 patients with pituitary apoplexy (8 men, 7 women; age 16-87, mean 5...

Metformin has gained a reputation as an effective fertility treatment in PCOS. Most publications use ovulation rate as the main outcome measure and few quote pregnancy rates. We have audited the first 39 patients with PCOS treated with Metformin in our Reproductive Unit. In this practice, as opposed to a research setting, there were often multiple factors contributing to infertility and they were usually proven resistant to other forms of treatment.In t...