Endocrine Abstracts

Cushing’s syndrome and obesity share clinical similarities. Here we present a 31-year-old lady with type 2 diabetes, renal failure, polycystic ovarian syndrome, depression, hirsutism and morbid obesity, whose abnormal phenotype and biochemistry normalised with weight loss.She was admitted with a history of recent onset recurrent hypoglycaemia and poor mobility. A detailed history revealed increase in weight over a 10 year period associated with irre...

Introduction: Epilepsy and anti-epileptic medications can be associated with various endocrine disorders namely, polycystic ovary syndrome, premature ovarian failure, hypothalamic amenorrhoea, functional hyperprolactinaemia and rarely galactorrhoea. Here, we present a lady who developed intermittent episodes of galactorrhoea suspected to be due to primary generalized seizures.Case report: A 50-year-old lady was referred for investigation of elevated prol...

Introduction: Testosterone replacement therapy is the standard treatment for hypogonadism. However, there are also serious side effects which clinicians should be aware of. Here we present a case of unusual side effect related to testosterone therapy.Case history: A 90 year-old gentleman attended A&E with gradually worsening confusion and dyspnoea. His breathing had deteriorated in the last week with marked decrease in exercise tolerance. Investigati...

A 34-year-old female was seen in the joint diabetic antenatal clinic during her second pregnancy. She had a very unfortunate first pregnancy, which resulted in a still birth following a traumatic delivery. She also had a large post-partum haemorrhage causing Sheehan’s syndrome. Hormone replacement therapy had been commenced, including hydrocortisone, thyroxine and growth hormone (GH). Pre-treatment quality of life assessment in GH deficient adults score (Qol-AGHDA) 21, an...

A 38-year-old lady was referred to our endocrinology department with headache, elevated prolactin concentration and intolerance to cabergoline by the gynaecologist. She was found to have elevated prolactin whilst investigating for secondary amenorrhoea. She described her headaches to be worse on cough, sneezing and laughing. There was no evidence for raised intracranial pressure clinically and no visual field defect was identified. Prolactin was 3194 miu/l, however there was n...

Pituitary gland has an influence on erythropoiesis. Anaemia is thought to be due to loss of thyrotrophic and adrenotrophic hormones. Testosterone is also known to stimulate erythropoiesis. Here we present a patient with long standing iron deficiency anaemia, which corrected with management of hypopituitarism.A 72-year-old gentleman was under regular review at the diabetic clinic with type 2 diabetes mellitus. He had a background medical history of COPD, ...

Osteoporosis is a reduction in bone mass, with micro-architectural deterioration, leading to an increased risk of fragility fractures. A secondary cause for osteoporosis (caused by a specific well-defined clinical disorder) is found in a proportion of patients, which varies in different patient populations.We evaluated the utility of a 'standard panel' (FBC, PV, plasma protein electrophoresis & BJP, thyroid function tests, U&Es, calcium and bone ...

A 45 year old male was referred in November 2001 to the endocrine clinic with the complaints of sudden onset marked thirst, polyuria with nocturia (six times) for two months. His past medical history includes a diagnosis of solitary sacral plasmacytoma diagnosed in 1998, based on bone marrow aspirate and trephine in the presence of the paraproteinaemia. He was successfully treated with radiotherapy. There has been no history of head injury and has not been on regular medicatio...

A 37 year old Afro-Caribbean woman, with panhypopituitarism secondary to a pituitary macroadenoma was referred from a DGH physician to the neurosurgeons. She complained of headaches and blurred vision. Initial presentation was with malaise, weight loss, vomiting, abdominal pain, and secondary amenorrhoea. She was found to have panhypopituitarism and was on thyroxine and hydrocortisone replacement therapy. Abdominal CT had showed widespread axillary para aortic and iliac lympha...

Introduction: The reason for weight gain is multifactorial. Effective intervention can only be incorporated if the underlying cause is evaluated correctly. Here we present a lady with Addison’s disease who gain significant weight and was helped to lose weight using a novel approach.Case-Report: 42 year-old lady was referred to our weight-management service as she was unsuccessful in losing weight. Detailed evaluation in the obesity clinic revealed t...