Endocrine Abstracts

Background: The UK acromegaly register reported that <60% of acromegalics on medical therapy had controlled disease (1). This is because many patients do not respond to somatostatin therapy. Pegvisomant, a growth hormone antagonist (GHA), controls disease in >95% cases, but is not cost-effective and requires high dose daily injections (2). There is therefore an unmet need for a cost-effective GHA. We have developed a fusion technology for making a cost-effective long-a...

Introduction: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, which may relate to enhanced sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation. The cerebral pathways involved in this process are not known.Aims: i) To compare SNS activation in response to isometric forearm contraction (IFC) in patients with PCOS and controls. ii) To identify and compare the neuronal signatures of this response.Methods: 15 ...

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency occurs more frequently in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism compared to general population, and is usually associated with an aggravated form of the disease. Current guidelines recommend measurement of vitamin D level in all patients with primary hyperparathyroidism, and their repletion if the levels are <50 nmol/l.Case report: We present a 56 years old Caucasian lady who underwent right parathyroidectomy &#...

Introduction: Some patients complain of excessive daytime somnolence following pituitary surgery.Aim: To investigate the presence of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) following surgery for non functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA).Design and methods: We assessed the prevalence of OSA in 16 routinely selected patients following surgery for NFPA and 13 obese controls attending a tertiary referral centre, by means of the Epworth Sleepine...

Background: Bone mass is low and fracture risk is higher in obese children. We wished to ascertain the relationships of obesity-related changes in hormones with skeletal microstructure.Method: Children aged 8–15 years matched by gender and pubertal stage were recruited into lean and obese groups (18 pairs). We used high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HRpQCT – resolution-82 μm) to assess three-dimensional cortical a...

Background: For chronic diseases, adherence to treatment remains a major clinical challenge. For men with long-term hypogonadism, there is scant data regarding adherence to treatment. Congenital hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (CHH) is a rare, genetic, endocrine disorder characterized by incomplete/absent puberty and infertility. Little is known about adherence in this patient population or the psychosocial implications of living with this rare disorder. Therefore, we aimed to e...

Patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) undergo parathyroid ultrasound, Tc-99m sestamibi scan or MRI to localize hyperfunctioning parathyroid gland(s). When scans are negative or discordant we perform parathyroid hormone selective venous sampling (PTHSVS).We report the results of 18 patients (four males, 14 females, average age 58.7) with PHPT, who underwent PTHSVS followed by either focused parathyroidectomy (FP) or bilateral neck exploration (...

Background: Treatment outcome with hydrocortisone for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) in neonates and children is highly variable. As there is no licensed formulation for children <6 years hydrocortisone capsules individually have to be compounded by local pharmacies (dose strength: 0.5–9.5 mg). The aim of this study was to characterise mass and content of these capsules in order to assess medication safety for effective and nontoxic dosing in terms of precision ...

Background: TSH secreting pituitary adenomas represent small proportion of functional pituitary tumours presenting as hyperthyroidism with elevated thyroid hormone levels and inappropriately normal or increased TSH concentration. They are ≥1 cm in size and quite aggressive with tendency to relapse following transphenoidal adenomectomy (TSA). Surgical resection remains gold standard in their definitive treatment while pharmacotherapy with long-acting somatostatin analogue...

Introduction: Blood chimerism is the condition characterized by the presence of cells from at least 2 zygote lineages in only the lympho-hematopoietic system. It is very rare in humans and is most commonly seen in monozygotic monochorionic twins through placental anastomoses.Case report: A 12 years old young girl, one of dichorionic dizygotic twins, had a genetic test performed for paternity issues. CGH array showed 46XY genotype (90%) and another genoty...