Endocrine Abstracts

Radioiodide therapy of thyroid cancer represents the most effective form of systemic radiotherapy available to the clinician today. The ability of thyroid cancer cells to concentrate iodide is induced by expression in the follicular cell membrane of the sodium iodide symporter, NIS. Some thyroid cancers lack expression of this protein and therefore the ability to concentrate iodide, making them insensitive to 131-I therapy. Several investigators have characterized the expressi...

Respiratory disorders are a major cause of illness and impaired physical function in patients with acromegaly, contributing to 25% of all recorded deaths, with respiratory mortality 3-fold higher than in normal subjects. Sleep apnoea (SA), the phenomenon of recurrent cessation or decrease of airflow to the lungs during sleep, is the commonest reported respiratory complication. Both obstructive (OSA) and central (CSA) sleep apnoeas are known to occur, although the overall preva...

Background: Klinefelter’s syndrome (KS) is a genetic condition affecting men with the potential to severely reduce their testosterone levels and affect their physical appearance. Being a syndrome there are a variety of different symptoms which individuals may experience to a great or lesser extent. While much research has been directed at understanding the cognitive impact of KS much less research has been undertaken considering the psycho-social impact of living with the...

Background: Evidence from a Needs Analysis (2006) and Patient Satisfaction Survey (2008) for people with pituitary conditions, suggested infertility was a key yet unexpected problem for the majority of respondents. Being infertile without the co-morbidity of having a pituitary condition confers a huge emotional burden on the couple concerned. The aim of this study was to explore in detail the effects infertility imposed on people with a pituitary condition.<p class="abstex...

Background: Klinefelter’s syndrome (KS) is a genetic condition affecting men with the potential to severely reduce their testosterone levels and affect their physical appearance. Being a syndrome there are a variety of different symptoms, which individuals may experience to a great or lesser extent. While much research has been directed at understanding the cognitive impact of KS much less research has been undertaken considering the psycho-social impact of living with th...

Background: Evidence from a Needs Analysis (2006) and Patient Satisfaction Survey (2008) for people with pituitary conditions suggested infertility was a key yet unexpected problem for the majority of respondents. Being infertile without the co-morbidity of pituitary condition confers a huge emotional burden on the individual. The aim of this piece of research was to investigate individual’s perceptions of managing infertility following a diagnosis of a pituitary conditio...

Permanent hypoparathyroidism is rare after total thyroidectomy. However, our experience is that often patients remain on alfacalcidol and calcium supplements long-term after thyroidectomy.A study was initiated in our centre in 2004, whereby all patients on alfacalcidol or calcium supplements post thyroidectomy underwent a gradual alfacalcidol and calcium reduction programme. Of 57 patients thus enrolled, we report on 22 who were initially on alfacalcidol...

Nitric oxide (NO) is a regulator of pituitary gonadotrophs via local paracrine and autocrine actions. Gonadotrophs express neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) but the effects of NO on gonadotrophs are controversial and both stimulation and inhibition of LH release has been reported. nNOS -/- mice have reduced fertility, but this is attributed to ovary actions, because no difference was detected in basal or GnRH-stimulated LH release (Klein et al 1998). We have therefore exam...

Background: Pituitary metastases are a rare occurrence, accounting for just 0.4% of intracranial metastatic tumours and are most often associated with breast and lung malignancies. The vast majority of lesions are asymptomatic and due to the predilection of metastasis to the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland, clinical presentation with anterior pituitary insufficiency is uncommon and rarely reported in literature.Case summary: A 51-year old male with...

Case history: A 46-year-old headmaster with a 10-year history of hypertension presented with a BP of 164/116 mmHg on four antihypertensive drugs. He had occasional headaches, chest ‘aches’, and described one syncopal episode after an ‘exhausting rowing session’. A low plasma renin (routinely measured in our resistant hypertensives) and 26/20 mmHg fall in BP on changing hydrochlorothiazide to amiloride, led to investigations for primary aldosteronism (PA).</...