Glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency: an uncommon cause of hypercalcaemia.

Summary: Long-term use of exogenous glucocorticoids leads to the suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Therefore, if the glucocorticoid is withdrawn abruptly, patients will develop adrenal insufficiency. Hypercalcaemia is a rare but well-known complication of adrenal insufficiency. However, hypercalcaemia is a rare presentation of glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency (GI-AI). A 62-year-old patient with a past history of diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, hypertension and dyslipidaemia presented with polyuria, loss of appetite, malaise and vomiting for a duration of 2 months. His ionized calcium level was high at 1.47 mmol/L. Intact parathyroid hormone was suppressed (4.3 pg/mL) and vitamin D was in the insufficient range (24.6 ng/mL). Extensive evaluation for solid organ or haematological malignancy including contrast-enhanced CT chest, abdomen, pelvis, multiple myeloma workup and multiple tumour markers were negative. His synacthan-stimulated cortisol was undetectable thus confirming adrenal insufficiency. His adrenocorticotrophic hormone level was 3.82 pg/mL (4.7-48.8) excluding primary adrenal insufficiency. His MRI brain and other pituitary hormones were normal. Further inquiry revealed that the patient had taken over-the-counter dexamethasone on a regular basis for allergic rhinitis for more than 2 years and had stopped 2 weeks prior to the onset of symptoms. Therefore, a diagnosis of GI-AI leading to hypercalcemia was made. The patient was resuscitated with intravenous fluids and replacement doses of oral hydrocortisone were started with a plan of prolonged tailing off to allow the endogenous adrenal function to recover. His calcium normalized and he made a complete recovery. Learning points: Long-term use of glucocorticoids leads to the suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. If the glucocorticoid is withdrawn abruptly, patients will develop adrenal insufficiency which is known as glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency. Adrenal insufficiency should be considered in the differential diagnosis of parathyroid hormone-independent hypercalcaemia. A thorough clinical history is of paramount importance in arriving at the correct diagnosis.

Bilateral Leydig Cell Hyperplasia: A Rare Cause of Postmenopausal Hirsutism.

BACKGROUND: Postmenopausal hirsutism could be due to a myriad of causes, including ovarian and adrenal tumours, ovarian hyperthecosis, exogenous androgens, and Cushing's syndrome. We report a patient who was found to have a rare cause of postmenopausal hirsutism. Case Presentation. A 64-year-old postmenopausal woman with a history of hypertension, thyrotoxicosis, and poorly controlled diabetes on multiple oral hypoglycaemic agents presented with gradual onset progressive excessive hair growth without any virilizing features. On examination, she did not have Cushingnoid features or clitoromegaly. Her hirsutism was quantified with Ferriman-Gallwey score which was 9. Her biochemical evaluation showed elevated testosterone levels with normal DHEAS, ODST, 17-OHP, and prolactin. Low-dose dexamethasone suppression test did not suppress testosterone more than 40%. Contrast-enhanced CT of the adrenal and pelvis did not show any adrenal or ovarian mass lesions. Transvaginal ultrasound scan showed bilateral prominent ovaries only. Combined adrenal and ovarian venous sampling was carried out to localize the source of excess androgen, but only the left adrenal vein was successfully cannulated which showed suppressed testosterone level compared to periphery. The patient underwent total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salphingo oophorectomy, and her testosterone level normalized postoperatively. Her glycaemic control improved. Histology showed evidence of bilateral diffuse ovarian Leydig cell hyperplasia. CONCLUSION: Evaluation of postmenopausal hirsutism needs careful history and examination followed by biochemical evaluation and imaging. While adrenal and ovarian venous sampling can help to arrive at a diagnosis, it is a technically demanding procedure with low success rates even at centers of excellence. Therefore, in such situations, bilateral oophorectomy may be the best course of action which will give the histological confirmation of the diagnosis. Successful treatment of hyperandrogenism can result in improvement of glycaemic control. Bilateral diffuse Leydig cell hyperplasia is a rare but important cause of postmenopausal hirsutism.

A patient with extensive cerebral calcification due to pseudohypoparathyroidism: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Pseudohypoparathyroidism(PHP) is a heterogeneous group of disorders due to impaired activation of c AMP dependant pathways following binding of parathyroid hormone (PTH) to its receptor. In PHP end organ resistance to PTH results in hypocalcaemia, hyperphosphataemia and high PTH levels. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59 year old male presented with a history of progressive impairment of speech and unsteadiness of gait for 1 week and acute onset altered behavior for 1 day and one episode of generalized seizure. His muscle power was grade four according to MRC (medical research council) scale in all limbs and Chovstek's and Trousseau's signs were positive. Urgent non contrast computed tomography scan of the brain revealed extensive bilateral cerebral and cerebellar calcifications. A markedly low ionized calcium level of 0.5 mmol/l, an elevated phosphate level of 9.5 mg/dl (reference range: 2.7-4.5 mg/dl) and an elevated intact PTH of 76.3 pg/l were noted. His renal functions were normal. His hypocalcemia was accentuated by the presence of hypomagnesaemia. His 25 hydroxy vitamin D level was only marginally low which could not account for severe hypocalcaemia. A diagnosis of pseudohypoparathyroidism without phenotypic defects, was made due to hypocalcaemia and increased parathyroid hormone levels with cerebral calcifications. The patient was treated initially with parenteral calcium which was later converted to oral calcium supplements. His coexisting Vitamin D deficiency was corrected with 1αcholecalciferol escalating doses. His hypomagnesaemia was corrected with magnesium sulphate parenteral infusions initially and later with oral preparations. With treatment there was a significant clinical and biochemical response. CONCLUSION: Pseudohypoparathyroidism can present for the first time in elderly resulting in extensive cerebral calcifications. Identification and early correction of the deficit will result in both symptomatic and biochemical response.

Development and validation of a Diabetes Risk Score for screening undiagnosed diabetes in Sri Lanka (SLDRISK).

BACKGROUND: Screening for undiagnosed diabetes is not widely undertaken due to the high costs and invasiveness of blood sampling. Simple non-invasive tools to identify high risk individuals can facilitate screening. The main objectives of this study are to develop and validate a risk score for screening undiagnosed diabetes among Sri Lankan adults and to compare its performance with the Cambridge Risk Score (CRS), the Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) and three other Asian risk scores. METHODS: Data were available from a representative sample of 4276 adults without diagnosed diabetes. In a jack-knife approach two thirds of the sample was used for the development of the risk score and the remainder for the validation. Age, waist circumference, BMI, hypertension, balanitis or vulvitis, family history of diabetes, gestational diabetes, physical activity and osmotic symptoms were significantly associated with undiagnosed diabetes (age most to osmotic symptoms least). Individual scores were generated for these factors using the beta coefficient values obtained in multiple logistic regression. A cut-off value of sum = 31 was determined by ROC curve analysis. RESULTS: The area under the ROC curve of the risk score for prevalent diabetes was 0.78 (CI 0.73-0.82). In the sample 36.3 % were above the cut-off of 31. A risk score above 31 gave a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 77.9, 65.6, 9.4 and 98.3 % respectively. For Sri Lankans the AUC for the CRS and IDRS were 0.72 and 0.66 repectively. CONCLUSIONS: This simple non-invasive screening tool can identify 80 % of undiagnosed diabetes by selecting 40 % of Sri Lankan adults for confirmatory blood investigations.