Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Early detection of congenital hypothyroidism (CHT), and treatment with oral thyroxine, supports the critical period of early brain development, improves growth and prevents the metabolic effects of adult hypothyroidism. Screening for CHT, involving an assay for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), has been included in the UK newborn blood spot screening programme since 1981. Since the introduction of screening, the number of CHT cases has increased, although the re...

Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a recessively inherited deficiency of cortisol production affecting an estimated 1 in 10 000–20 000 live births. The salt-wasting form, which is found in over half of all children with CAH, may present with a potentially life-threatening crisis in with the newborn period while associated excess androgen production may result in girls being incorrectly assigned as boys at birth. Early detection by newborn screening, combined with cor...

Background: Structured education should be appropriate to the learning styles of participants. Health professionals and experts in education worked together to develop KICk-OFF for 11–16 year olds and similar experience has now been used in the development of Junior KICk-OFF for Key Stage (KS) 1 (4–7 years) and KS2 (7–11 years).Method: The KICk-OFF team developed the curricula with input from teachers and an academic educationalist. Sectio...

Background: Currently there are no evaluated diabetes teaching packages for primary school age children which meet their learning needs, styles and are delivered by trained educators. Sheffield children’s Hospital produced and tested, as a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the KICk-OFF course for 11–16 year olds. This 5-day course based on carbohydrate counting and insulin dose adjustment showed significant improvement in HbA1c (9 mmol/mol, 0.8%) for those with poor...

Introduction: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a rare condition affecting steroid-hormone synthesis. We reviewed the investigation and management of children with CAH against current international guidelines and explored variation by region and specialty of responsible clinician.Methods: Active national surveillance of new diagnoses of CAH in children under age 16 years and resident in Great Britain, undertaken prospectively from 2007 to 2009....

Background: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a recessively inherited deficiency of cortisol production associated with life-threatening adrenal crisis, accelerated growth and excess virilising hormone production, which may result in girls being incorrectly assigned as boys at birth. Newborn screening for CAH has not been introduced in the UK, reflecting concerns about false positive diagnoses, as well as inconsistent information about disease frequency and severity. A n...

IntroductionInsulin-like growth factors-I (IGF-I) and -II (IGF-II) are important in regulation of metabolism and growth. We previously reported in normal weight normoglycaemic individuals that low circulating IGF-II predicts future weight gain. We subsequently investigated whether such relationships persisted in circumstances of abnormal glucose tolerance.MethodIn 224 type 2 diabetes subjects we assessed the ...

Background: Primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) predisposes patients to infections, which can precipitate life-threatening adrenal crises. PAI patients are thought to be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19; however, little is known about its true impact on this group.Aim: To assess morbidity and health promotion attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic amongst a large cohort of PAI patients.Methods: In May 2020 COVID-19 information, ...

Background: Benign adrenal incidentalomas (AI) are found in 3-5% of adults. All patients should undergo a 1 mg -overnight dexamethasone suppression test (1 mg -DST) to exclude cortisol excess (non-functioning adrenal tumours, NFAT; serum cortisol ≤50 nmol/l) or diagnose possible mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS; serum cortisol >50 nmol/l). Current guidelines discourage repeating hormonal work-up in patients with benign AI. However, data underpinning this reco...

Background: Patients with primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) carry an increased risk of infections which can precipitate adrenal crises. They are thought to be more likely to contract COVID-19 and develop severe disease; however, little is known about the true impact of COVID-19 on these patients.Objectives: To assess the response of a large single-centre cohort of PAI patients to COVID-19, focusing on morbidity and health promotion attitudes.<p cla...