Unusual manifestations associated with primary hypothyroidism: Experience from a tertiary care health center / Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies

@#Hypothyroidism is a commonly diagnosed endocrine disorder. Typical signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism include lethargy, cold intolerance, hoarseness, dry skin, constipation, delayed relaxation phase of deep tendon reflexes, and bradycardia. However, some patients may present with unusual signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism which can result in diagnostic confusion. Besides the usual clinical manifestations of primary hypothyroidism, some signs are very unusual and not commonly recorded. The treating physician may not be familiar with them. Hence, timely identification of these unusual presentations is very important for early intervention and treatment.

Prognostic Factors in Patients Hospitalized with Diabetic Ketoacidosis

BACKGROUND: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is characterized by a biochemical triad of hyperglycemia, acidosis, and ketonemia. This condition is life-threatening despite improvements in diabetic care. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical and biochemical prognostic markers of DKA. We assessed correlations in prognostic markers with DKA-associated morbidity and mortality. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy patients that were hospitalized with DKA over a period of 2 years were evaluated clinically and by laboratory tests. Serial assays of serum electrolytes, glucose, and blood pH were performed, and clinical outcome was noted as either discharged to home or death. RESULTS: The analysis indicated that significant predictors included sex, history of type 1 diabetes mellitus or type 2 diabetes mellitus, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, total leukocyte count, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score, blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, serum magnesium, serum phosphate, serum osmolality, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminases, serum glutamic pyruvic transaminases, serum albumin, which were further regressed and subjected to multivariate logistic regression (MLR) analysis. The MLR analysis indicated that males were 7.93 times more likely to have favorable outcome compared with female patients (odds ratio, 7.93; 95% confidence interval, 3.99 to 13.51), while decreases in mean APACHE II score (14.83) and serum phosphate (4.38) at presentation may lead to 2.86- and 2.71-fold better outcomes, respectively, compared with higher levels (APACHE II score, 25.00; serum phosphate, 6.04). CONCLUSION: Sex, baseline biochemical parameters such as APACHE II score, and phosphate level were important predictors of the DKA-associated mortality.

McCune-Albright Syndrome with hypophosphatemic rickets / Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies

@#Fibrous dysplasia (FD) is sometimes accompanied by extraskeletal manifestations that can include any combination of café-au-lait macules, hyperfunctioning endocrinopathies, such as gonadotropin-independent precocious puberty, hyperthyroidism, growth hormone excess, FGF23-mediated renal phosphate wasting, and/or Cushing’s syndrome, as well as other less common features. The combination of any of these findings, with or without FD, is known as McCune-Albright syndrome (MAS). The broad spectrum of involved tissues and the unpredictable combination of findings is because of a molecular defect due to dominant activating mutations in the widely expressed signalling protein Gsα. These mutations arise sporadically, often early in development, prior to gastrulation and can distribute across many or few tissues.1,2 We present a case of a 3½ year-old-girl who presented simultaneously with precocious puberty and hypophosphatemic rickets, along with fibrous dysplasia and café au lait macules.