Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Cabergoline is effective in achieving normoprolactinaemia and tumour shrinkage in about 70% of patients with macroprolactinoma. Only a few studies have followed-up the adenoma shrinkage for periods >2 years;the need for continuing imaging thereafter is not certain.Aim: To evaluate tumour volume changes in patients with macroprolactinoma responsive to cabergoline during a long follow-up period.Patients and methods: M...

Background: Anti-thyroid peroxidase (TPO) antibodies are the serological hallmark of autoimmune thyroid disease and are often used for the establishment of the diagnosis of Graves’ disease (GD).Aim: To investigate the diagnostic value of the anti-TPO antibodies in a series of patients with GD.Patients and methods: All patients presenting to our Department with GD between 1/2004-6/2007 were studied. The diagnosis was based on t...

Background: Treatment of patients with acromegaly caused by pituitary adenoma with somatostatin analogues leads to significant tumour shrinkage in 23–73% of the cases. Although not widely accepted, it has been suggested that the surgical remission rate may be improved by pre-operative treatment with these agents.Aim: To assess whether the degree of tumour shrinkage by lanreotide offered pre-operatively affects the surgical success in acromegalics wi...

Background: Nadir GH<2 mU/l in OGTT, normal IGF-I and mean GH<5 mU/l in the growth hormone day curve (GHDC) are considered the therapeutic endpoints in patients with acromegaly. However, discrepancies between these parameters have been reported.Aim: To compare the utility of the above tests in assessing the acromegaly status following surgical treatment.Patients and methods: Twenty-six consecutive patients (16 females) diag...

Introduction: Pituitary adenomas causing acromegaly are immunocytochemically divided into 3 main groups: growth hormone (GH) cell (A), those with GH and prolactin (PRL) cell differentiation (B) and plurihormonal (C). Recent large series comparing the hormonal and imaging features of these tumours at diagnosis are lacking.Objectives: To investigate differences in the presenting hormonal and imaging data associated with the above groups of adenomas.<p ...

It has been suggested that primary medical treatment of patients with acromegaly using somatostatin analogues (SSA) is as effective at controlling GH levels as post-operative SSA therapy.We have carried out a prospective study in patients harbouring GH secreting macroadenomas to see, in a within-patient comparison, whether debulking pituitary surgery improved GH control on lanreotide compared with that obtained pre-operatively. Local Ethical Committee ap...

Background: Cushing’s disease (CD) may be associated with equivocal results on biochemical investigations.Aim: To evaluate the usefulness of dexamethazone suppression tests in the diagnostic work-up of CD.Patients and methods: Seventy patients with CD [median age 38 yrs(16–76), 53 females] presenting between 1976–2005 were studied. 24-hr urinary free cortisol (UFC), overnight (oDST) (1 mg at 23:00 h), low dose (LDDST...

Between March 1998 and October 2002, 62 patients requiring trans-sphenoidal pituitary surgery (PS) and 36 patients requiring endoscopic sinus surgery (controls, C) were recruited. Patients were aged 18–65 years and had not had previous surgery or radiotherapy to the brain. The mean ages (p>0.05) and genders (p>0.05) of the two groups were similar 47 years, 41% male (PS) compared with 43 years, 39% male (C). Baseline IQ of the two groups was also similar, 101&#177...

Background: The safety of GH replacement in patients with craniopharyngioma has not been clearly elucidated.Aim: To assess whether GH replacement increases the risk of craniopharyngioma recurrence.Patients and Methods: The records of the patients with craniopharyngioma followed-up at the Departments of Endocrinology and Paediatrics between 1/1964-6/2004 were reviewed. The recurrence risks of GH-treated and non-GH-treated patients w...

BACKGROUND: Acromegaly is a chronic debilitating disease, which can also affect calcium metabolism. Hypercalciuria is a common finding but hypercalcaemia is rare and has been reported in 0-10% of cases in various studies involving small number of patients.AIM: To investigate the prevalence and aetiology of hypercalcaemia among patients with acromegaly.PATIENTS AND METHODS: The medical records of 145 patients who presented to our De...