Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The concept of life-long medical therapy for acromegaly has recently been challenged. Hormonal remission for up to 48 months after stopping somatostatin analogues in acromegalic patients has recently been reported. Herein, we present a further case showing the longest remission yet in growth hormone levels after somatostatin analogue treatment.Case: In 1987, a 43 year old man was diagnosed with acromegaly [nadir GH on oral glucose tolerance...

Aim: In normal men testosterone levels fall with age. We wished to assess the efficacy and safety of Nebido in men over the age of 60 years in order to assess dose frequency and other potential complications.Subjects and methods: Ten men over 60 years of age (range 60–77 median 64) with primary or secondary hypogonadism were treated with Nebido 1000 mg i.m. Each was given a loading dose of two injections 6 weeks apart (our normal protocol for all pa...

Background: TSH-receptor stimulating antibodies are implicated in the pathophysiology of Graves’ disease (GD). The detection of TSH-receptor antibodies (TSHR-Abs) is routinely performed by assays measuring thyrotropin-binding inhibitor immunoglobulin and new generation assays are reported to have high sensitivity and specificity in GD. The differentiation of hyperthyroidism (GD or toxic multinodular goiter (TMG) or toxic adenoma (TA)) is important for planning the therapy...

Turner syndrome results from the complete or partial lack of one X chromosome and occurs in approximately 1:2500 female live births. The incidence of spontaneous puberty in the 45, X karyotype is about 9%. Spontaneous pregnancy has been reported in less than 5% of the cases, the majority of which have been described in subjects with mosaicism; these are often associated with high rates of miscarriage and stillbirth.A 51-year-old check-out supervisor was ...

Several recent studies have identified Npr2 gene mutations (encoding the guanylyl cyclase B (GC-B) receptor) as causing dwarfism and achondroplasia. Npr2 null mice have a similar bone phenotype, pituitary growth hormone deficiency and female infertility. As the endogenous ligand for GC-B, C-type natriuretic peptide (CNP) is expressed at high levels in the anterior pituitary of rats and mice, we examined whether components of the natriuretic peptide system were al...

Background: Surgery is indicated for patients with prolactinomas if intolerant of or resistant to medical therapy with dopamine agonists. The transphenoidal route offers fast relief from symptoms in the hands of an experienced surgeon, with remission achieved in up to 87% of microprolactinomas and 56% in macroprolactinomas.1Aim: To evaluate the outcome of transsphenoidal adenectomy for non-responsive prolactinomas in a single centre in the UK....

Background: Levothyroxine is the standard treatment for central hypothyroidism (CH). Studies assessing the optimal dose are limited and include subjects with other untreated pituitary hormone deficits, affecting the interpretation of results. A reliable comparison with the dose used in primary hypothyroidism (PH) has not been reported.Aims: To evaluate daily and body-weight-adapted levothyroxine dose (BWA-dose) in a cohort of patients with CH on appropri...

Background: Turner syndrome (TS) affects 1:2500 live births. Mean age of death is reported 27.9±25.5 years due to cardiovascular complications. Expert care is required for better outcome.Aim: To review data on presentation and follow-up of a large series of patients with TS attending our Adult TS clinic.Patients and methods: The records of 64 out of 72 patients were available for review.Results: About 56...

Background: Patients with uncomplicated hyperthyroidism referred by their GP to our Department had a waiting time of 3–4 months before been seen by a Consultant. As a result of this, funding was provided for setting-up a Thyroid Nurse-Led Clinic (TNLC) aiming to resolve the problem. The clinic started running in May 2005.Aim: To assess the benefits of the TNLC for the NHS.Patients and methods: The data of visits of patients se...

Background: A Thyroid Nurse-Led Clinic (TNLC) was set up within the Department of Endocrinology in Oxford aiming primarily to reduce waiting times of patients with uncomplicated thyrotoxicosis from 3 to 4 months to 2 to 4 weeks. It proved to be a cost effective measure.Aims: To explore the patients’ perspective on the provision of care and on the service delivery of the TNLC.Patients and methods: A structured questionnaire wit...