Endocrine Abstracts

A 17 year old phenotypically female Middle Eastern patient presented with a short history of abdominal pain. Laparotomy and biopsy confirmed extensive mixed germ cell tumour with yolk sac elements. After referral to London, remission was achieved with 6 cycles of Bleomycin, Etoposide and Cisplatinum (alpha feta protein decreasing from 12 714 to 5 milli units per litre). Examination revealed short stature, absent pubertal development and primary amenorrhoea. She had palmar, buc...

The gases nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) function as intercellular messengers in a completely novel manner, providing a medium of cellular communication quite distinct from the classical neuroregulators. These agents will diffuse according to their physicochemical characteristics, in evanescent 'puffs' with spherical limits, unconstrained by formal cell boundaries. Most work has concentrated on their roles in inflammation and control of the vascular tree, but there...

THE SENSITIVITY OF 123I-MIBG IN THE DETECTION OF HISTOLOGICALLY CONFIRMED CATECHOLAMINE-PRODUCING TUMOURS.M Ismail, R Foley, WM Drake, AB Grossman, PJ Jenkins, SL Chew, GMBesser, R Reznek, K Britton, JP MonsonDepartments of Endocrinology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiology, StBartholomew's Hospital (QMUL), London EC1A 7BERadionuclide imaging is widely used for the loc...

Transphenoidal hypophysectomy is often carried out to remove ACTH-secreting tumours of the pituitary. A postoperative serum cortisol of <50nmol/l usually indicates cure of the disease but after other audits found persistent cases, 'remission' is thought to be a more appropriate term.Charing Cross Hospital is the tertiary neurosurgical centre for West London where a single, dedicated pituitary surgeon was appointed in 1995. We analysed the success of e...

Little is known about the place of insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) in preantral follicle development, although there is considerable evidence that IGFs are important in antral folliculogenesis. In the rat, isolated large preantral follicles developed better when cultured in vitro in the presence of IGF-I than without (Zhao et al 2001). In the same study, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction identified mRNA for IGF-I and the type I receptor in the granulosa/theca ...

Paul Stewart, Division of Medical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK AbstractBorn in Harrogate in 1959, Paul received his undergraduate medical training at Edinburgh University. His house officer and senior house officer posts were undertaken at the Royal Infirmary and Western General Hospital Edinburgh, and it was here that his interest in endocrinology was kindled, largely th...

The need for new therapeutic options in diabetes has become increasingly apparent. Until recently transplantation of isolated islets has had limited success. The Edmonton Protocol has described how many of the problems can be overcome, but has highlighted the need to develop methods of expanding islets cells in culture to provide sufficient tissue to meet the potentially huge demand for this treatment. We have focused on three approaches: 1. deriving replicating human Beta cel...

Paul Stewart, University of Birmingham, UK AbstractBorn in Harrogate in 1959, Paul received his undergraduate Medical training at Edinburgh University. His house officer and senior house officer posts were undertaken at the Royal Infirmary and Western General Hospital Edinburgh, and it was here that his interest in endocrinology was kindled, largely thanks to the clinical skills and mentorship of Christopher Edwards a...

BackgroundUse of Evolocumab as a monotherapy or in combination with other lipid lowering drugs reduces LDL-C by up to 60% in patients with or without familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), diabetes mellitus (DM), or coronary artery disease (CAD). Data regarding the efficacy of PCSK9 inhibitors in MENA populations is lacking.MethodRetrospective case review of all patients initiated on Evolocumab treatment at Impe...

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine conditions affecting women of reproductive age. Recent studies have shown several long term comorbidities associated with PCOS, thus making it essential that all physicians, regardless of training and specialty, understand and empower women with PCOS to adopt evidence-based behavioral changes. This study set out to establish an understanding of evidence-based lifestyle management of PCOS and the current pract...