Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Measurement of salivary glucocorticoids is gaining popularity as it offers a non-invasive collection technique, enabling sampling in the community or home environment, allowing tailored capture of steroid circadian rhythm and improved patient experience. Current popular salivary collection methods cannot be used in very young children due to choking and the requirement for active participation. There is little data on saliva stability during home collection.<p ...

Introduction: X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) is due to mutation in ABCD1 with variable clinical phenotype and severity. Elevated plasma VLCFA is seen in all affected males. However, the clinical phenotype is not collated with VLCFA plasma concentration or by the type of ABCD1 variant. Clinical presentation can be widely variable ranging from childhood cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy (CALD), adolescent CALD, adrenomyloneuropathy and/or adrenal insufficiency. We present a s...

Background: Limited data support concerns that corticosteroid use in pregnancy, for maternal health reasons, can suppress the neonatal Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. We sought to determine if neonates born to mothers on high-dose steroids are at risk of adrenal suppression.Methodology: Our tertiary neonatal unit guidance advises that babies born to mothers receiving ≥7.5 mg/day prednisolone for 28 consecutive days in the 3rd trimester u...

Background: Acute adrenal insufficiency is a medical emergency and patients at risk of adrenal crisis should be treated immediately with glucocorticoid replacement. Our aim was to ensure there were safety alerts in place for health care professionals managing steroid dependent patients, to highlight their risk of adrenal insufficiency, and therefore prevent delays in life saving treatment.Methods: Review of the electronic documentation of all the steroid...

Background: Adrenocortical carcinoma in childhood is a rare tumour which accounts for about 0.2% of all paediatric malignancies. Affected children usually present with virilization, cushingoid features, and/or mineralocorticoid excess. We present a boy with adrenal carcinoma presented with virilization and unusually suppressed cortisol at initial presentation.Case report: A two-year-old boy presented with pubic hair, acne, and increased penile growth wit...