Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a higher prevalence of obesity and weight gain. Obesity negatively impacts the fertility, mental wellbeing and long term health of women with PCOS. The 2023 international guidelines for the management of PCOS suggest that GLP1 receptor agonists could be considered, but highlight a lack of evidence for medical obesity treatment in women with PCOS. Previous studies showed that interventions which red...

Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is greatly increased in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), patients typically have apparently healthy lipid profiles. Simple measurement of plasma lipids however does not provide information regarding lipoprotein particle size which in the nondiabetic population is independently predictive of CVD. Plasma lipids and lipoprotein subclasses (using polyacrylamide gel-tube electrophoresis) were studied in reproductive age women with T1DM and comp...

TSH-secreting pituitary adenomas (TSHomas) are rare. Previously, the reported prevalence was one case per million populations although this is probably an underestimate. A recently published study reported a prevalence of TSHomas in Sweden of 2.8/million inhabitants.Methods/design: Observational study conducted in four tertiary referral centres in Ireland. We retrospectively collected data on the prevalence, demographics, hormonal profile, tumour charact...

Acromegaly is a rare condition resulting from excess secretion of GH and IGF1. Acromegaly is frequently associated with subfertility. As such there is little data on the course of the disease during pregnancy, and of the effects of the disease and its treatments on the foetus.Objective: We describe known pregnancies in women with acromegaly within the Republic of Ireland over a 15-year period.Methods: We collected clinical, biochem...

Introduction: Short synacthen test (SST) has become the standard method of assessing the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis. However, there are still variances in practice with regards to performing and interpreting this test in particular the need for measuring cortisol level at both time 30 and 60 min.Methods: A retrospective review of 500 consecutive SST performed at a University teaching Hospital in Dublin between 2005 and 2012. Seru...

Lithium is used in psychiatric practice as maintenance therapy in bipolar disorder. It has a narrow therapeutic index with serious toxic potential. Lithium is associated with multiple endocrine and metabolic disturbances but data regarding the rates of these in individual patients is lacking. In a tertiary referral centre, all patients on lithium therapy from 2000 to 2014 were identified. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of lithium therapy on the development of e...

A 48-year-old man was referred for investigation of uncontrolled hypertension on four agents (olmesartan, felodipine, hydrochlorothiazide and spironolactone) and a 3 cm right-sided adrenal adenoma (pre-contrast Hounsfield units 25). Endocrine investigation for the hypertension and adrenal mass included: androstenedione 19.9 nmol/l 2.8–10.5) (elevated on two occasions on a Siemens Coat-A-Count assay), DHEA 0.7 μmol/l (2.1–15.2), 1 mg overnight dexamethasone suppr...

Thyroid cancer is the commonest endocrine malignancy. Recently, a European consensus statement for the management of patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma has been published1. The diagnostic and follow up protocols differ from previous guidelines by the use of neck ultrasound and recombinant human thyroglobulin (rhTSH) measurements. The aim of this study was to determine the current management of suspicious thyroid nodules and the follow up of thyroid cance...

The neuropsychological mechanism underlying cognitive impairment in hypothyroidism is poorly understood. It is not known whether cognitive impairment resolves following L-Thyroxine (LT4) replacement. It is also unknown whether similar neuropsychological abnormalities occur in patients with sub-clinical hypothyroidism (SCH). To address these questions, we performed neuropsychological tests in 17 patients with hypothyroidism (age 45±3 years; mean±S.E.M.)...

Glucocorticoid (GC) excess is associated with significant brain morphological changes including loss of volume and cerebral atrophy. These effects correlate with the degree and duration of GC elevation1. The neuropsychological abnormalities associated with GC excess, however, remain poorly understood2. Patients with Cushing’s syndrome represent a useful model in which to study the effects of severe and prolonged GC excess.We pr...