Endocrine Abstracts

It was reported that the inhibition of central nervous system (CNS) axon growth is mediated by Ca2+-dependent phosphorylation of epidermal growth factor receptor (pEGFR) and that local administration of small molecule EGFR antagonists to optic nerve lesions promoted retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axon regeneration (Koprivica et al. 2005). This result was attributed to suppression of EGFR kinase, which neutralised the axonal growth inhibitory potency of CNS myeli...

Neonatal rats were treated with MSG (4G/Kg daily for 7 days). Glucose tolerance tests (GTT) were performed at 32, 65 and 70 weeks. After one year there was evidence of Type II diabetes, and the blood glucose levels were significantly greater than the controls for several points in the GTT; islet beta-cells were unchanged, cataracts were often present and there was central obesity.The amines in the heart, proximal tail artery, kidneys and adrenals were ex...

Case 1: A 57-year-old lady referred to the Endocrinology department due to a CT Abdomen, performed for abdominal pain, reporting the presence of an incidental left adrenal adenoma. Imaging was reviewed in the Adrenal MDT meeting and further CT Abdomen arranged. Images were reviewed before and after oral contrast. Pre-contrast images revealed a small volume of high-density material within a rounded structure in the left upper quadrant, immediately superior to t...

A 16-year-old female presented with secondary amenorrhoea. Menarche was age 14 years and periods were less frequent over the preceding 12 months. There was no galactorrhoea, headache or visual field disturbance and no known family history of pituitary disease, tall stature or infertility. There were no clinical signs of Cushing’s disease or acromegaly and visual fields were full to confrontation. Height was 160 cm. Investigations showed a prolactin of 2,452 mIU/l (RR 102-...

Background: Adrenal insufficiency (AI) requires life-long glucocorticoid substitution therapy (1), and bears significant risks of infection, cardiovascular (CV) & metabolic disease burden. Historically Hydrocortisone (HC) has been the mainstay of treatment. Prednisolone is a once-daily alternative due to a longer half-life (up to 3.2 hrs). Currently, there is no discernible evidence supporting the superiority of either medication (2).Objective: To ex...

A male in his 40’s diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2011 (BMI:20.7kg/m2) was admitted with DKA (Dec 2018) after a period of poor glycaemic control on oral hypoglycaemic agents (Feb 2017: HbA1c-105mmol/mol, Nov 2018: HbA1c-115mmol/mol). There was dramatic improvement in glycaemic control after commencing him on subcutaneous insulin (April 2019: HbA1c-56mmol/mol). GAD65 antibodies were positive (24u/mL; normal<5u/mL) and a diagnosis of latent autoimmune diab...

Background: Head and neck paragangliomas (HNPGL) are rare, usually benign slow-growing tumours arising from neural crest-derived tissue. Definitive treatment strategies for HNPGL have not been clearly defined.Aims: To provide a comprehensive review of our institutional experience of the clinical features, investigations, management and follow up of this cohort.Methods: Baseline clinical information was taken from a prospectively ma...

Pseudoacromegaly or acromegaloidism is used to describe cases where acromegaly-related physical appearance can be observed without any abnormality in the growth hormone (GH) axis. Acromegalic features, in particular coarse facies, together with hypertrichosis, are typical manifestations of one of the pseudoacromegaly conditions: hypertrichosis acromegaloid facial features (HAFF) syndrome. This condition phenotypically overlaps with Cantu syndrome and acromegaloid facial appear...

Pseudoacromegaly or acromegaloidism is used to describe cases where acromegaly-related physical appearance can be observed without any abnormality in the growth hormone (GH) axis. Acromegalic features, in particular coarse facies, together with hypertrichosis, are typical manifestations of one of the pseudoacromegaly conditions: hypertrichosis acromegaloid facial features (HAFF) syndrome. This condition phenotypically overlaps with Cantu syndrome and acromegaloid facial appear...

Case History: A male in his 40’s diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2011 (BMI:20.7 kg/m2) was admitted with DKA (Dec 2018) after a period of poor glycaemic control on oral hypoglycaemic agents (Feb 2017: HbA1c-105 mmol/mol, Nov 2018: HbA1c-115 mmol/mol). There was dramatic improvement in glycaemic control after commencing him on subcutaneous insulin (April 2019: HbA1c-56 mmol/mol). GAD65 antibodies were positive (24 u/ml; normal<5 u/ml) and a diagnosis of latent a...