Endocrine Abstracts

The association of low body weight due to excessive exercise and/or eating disorders, and hypothalamic amenorrhoea is well documented. Delayed or arrest of puberty may occur if low body weight occurs before or during puberty. Normal menstruation is restored once a healthy body weight is regained. In this case, body weight normalised but ovarian function did not.A 34-year-old woman attended our thyroid clinic for subclinical hypothyroidism following an ep...

An elective total thyroidectomy was performed on a previously well 45-year-old nurse for toxic multinodular goitre. The operation was uneventful and the patient was discharged. She was re-admitted two days after the operation, with paraesthesia and muscle spasms affecting the face and hands. She was found to be hypocalcaemic, corrected calcium 1.83 mmol/l. She was treated with intravenous calcium gluconate, oral calcium and 1-alpha calcidol. Parathyroid levels were undetectabl...

Introduction: Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) affects quality of life causing a negative impact on psychosocial life. Previous findings identifed the phenomenon of an altered sense of identity with associated lowered-self esteem, social withdrawal and isolation. How this ‘altered identity’ influences interactions with Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) has not been investigated.Study aim: To explore the nature of interactions between HCPs and patients w...

Orlistat and Metformin have both been shown to be beneficial in the treatment of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), however, because Orlistat works by decreasing the absorption of dietary lipids, there is the potential to decrease absorption of lipophilic antioxidant substances with consequent decreased protection from oxidative stress. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the effect of treatment with orlistat vs. metformin on oxidative stress in pat...

Introduction: The National Growth Hormone (GH) audit was initiated in 2013 with funding from BSPED, to establish the ongoing trends in GH prescriptions in the UK and facilitate future long term follow up studies through a central database. Here we have studied the trends in GH prescribing and the indications for treatment from 2013 to 2015.Method: We examined data collected on a quarterly basis from centres across the UK on subjects less than 16 years of...

Introduction: Patients with adrenal insufficiency (AI), continue to face many challenges including: dealing with symptoms and associated disorders; managing medication regimens; prevention and management of complications, and effective engagement and interactions with healthcare providers. In patients with AI, adrenal crisis (AC) continues to lead to unnecessary deaths. We illustrate how University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust used the 4E framework (En...

Background: People with Primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) were identified as a vulnerable group by the UK government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence our aim was to evaluate the incidence of COVID-19, and associated adrenal crisis (AC) in people with PAI in the UK.Methods: A prospective observational study of patients with PAI was performed between January-June 2022. Participants were recruited via the Addison’s Disease Self Help Group. Diagnos...

Introduction: Hirsutism affects 10% of the female population caused by hyperandrogenism of benign aetiologies or androgen-secreting tumours. Tumorous causes of hyperandrogenism include androgen producing ovarian or adrenal tumours. Leydig cell tumours are rare ovarian testosterone producing tumours that comprise 0.1% of total ovarian tumours. It is rare in postmenopausal women and present with features of hyperandrogenaemia or hyperestrogenemia.Case: We ...

Background: Although pheochromocytoma classically presents with headaches, palpitations and paroxysmal hypertension, uncommon presentations such as cardiomyopathy, stroke and subarachnoid haemorrhage have been documented. We present one such infrequent presentation of myocardial infarction with normal coronary arteries (MINOCA).Case presentation: A 79-year Caucasian female presented with central crushing chest pain radiating to left arm associated with h...

A 62-year-old Asian British female presented with increasing tiredness. She had multiple co-morbidities and was prescribed steroid inhalers for suspected asthma. Her type 2 diabetes mellitus, previously well controlled on metformin, had worsened over a short period of time (48 to 85 mmol/mol). On examination, she was obese (weight 82 kg, BMI 43 kg/m2), hypertensive (155/78 mmHg); rest of the examination was unremarkable. The blood test revealed undetectable cortisol...