Endocrine Abstracts

Gonadism is a medical term for decreased functional activity of the gonads (ovaries or testes) producing hormones and gametes. Male hypogonadism is characterised by a deficiency in testosterone – a hormone critical for sexual, cognitive and body function as well as development. Low testosterone levels can be due to hypothalamic, pituitary or testicular abnormalities. Hypogonadism is classified as primary (primary testicular failure) and secondary (a problem in the hypotha...

A 44 year old man attended our endoscopy unit for gastroscopy to further investigate ongoing epigastric pain. He was incidentally found to be very hypertensive so gastroscopy was cancelled. Hypertension was treated. He had past medical history of hypertension and Gout. Routein blood tests showed renal impairment with significantly raised calcium 3.19 mmol/l. Hypercalcemia was treated with iv bisphosphonates. MEN 2a, was considered as a unifying diagnosis for high calcium and h...

We report an 84-year-old lady with stage A chronic lymphatic leukaemia which has been stable since 2002. She presented to our A&E in January 2013 with 3 days history of worsening frontal headache. She did not report visual disturbance or weakness. Examination revealed right sided homonymous hemianopia with no other neurological deficit.White cell count and lymphocytes were 53.9×109/l and 42.0×109/l respectively. CT hea...

A palpable parathyroid mass, in a patient with primary hyperparathyroidism, is presumed to be parathyroid carcinoma until proven otherwise, with other less common causes including parathyroid cysts and adenomas.In developing world primary hyperparathyroidism presented in different way not only in the disease age group as well as in clinical symptoms and signs. More cases of symptomatic PHPT are presented in younger age group and some time large adenomas ...

Background: Hyperinsulinaemia and insulin resistance is observed in both lean and obese women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). This condition affects 52% of Asian Indian compared to 22% of Caucasian women. Lifestyle changes, particularly diet and exercise can significantly impact the future prevention of type 2 diabetes, dyslipidaemia and hypertension in these patients.Objectives: We hypothesised that regular intensive exercise would be effective i...

A 32-year-old man was urgently referred to the endocrinology and neurosurgical teams by the neuro-ophthalmologist. He gave a 3 week history of sudden onset of left-sided visual impairment, with further visual deterioration a week previously. Urgent review in the eye clinic had revealed that the visual acuity in his left eye was reduced to finger counting only, with a pale left optic disc and a relative afferent pupillary defect on examination. Visual field testing demonstrated...

Case history: A 34-year-old man attended the emergency department with a history of sudden onset severe headache associated with vomiting, neck stiffness mild photophobia not relieved with analgesia. He reported a past medical history of hypertension treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEi). There was no focal neurology, and his observations were unremarkable - blood pressure 121/64 mmHg, heart rate 54 beats per minute, respiratory rate 14 breaths per minute...

A 55-year-old lady was admitted with sudden onset headache, diplopia, photophobia and confusion. CT brain showed SAH with hydrocephalus. Coiling of the aneurysm with EVD insertion was done on the same day. On day 5 post-operatively she developed hyponatremia and dropped her GCS to 10/15.On examination she was volume depleted with dry mucous membranes and loss of skin turgor. Urine output over the previous 4 days had been 2.5–4 l/day, urinary sodium ...

Pituitary metastases are uncommon, with breast and lung carcinomas being the most common primary sites. Of the minority that are symptomatic, diabetes insipidus (DI) is frequently present. We report two cases, one presenting with DI and the other with hypopituitarism and DI, who deteriorated rapidly and died within 3 months.Case 1: A previously fit 53-year-old lady presented in December 2008 with a one month history of polyuria and polydipsia. Investigat...

Histiocytosis X is a rare disorder in which proliferating Langerhans cells can infiltrate virtually any site in the body. Bone is the most commonly affected site but endocrine involvement is frequently seen. Diabetes insipidus is the most common abnormality when there is involvement of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis.We report the case of a 42 year old lady who presented with diabetes insipidus in 1997. MR scan of the pituitary showed absence of the post...