Endocrine Disorders in a Specialized Hospital in Guyana

ABSTRACT

Background:Endocrine diseases are characterized by hormonal alterations (excess or defect). Due to the low prevalence (less than five case 5 / 10 000 inhabitants), a large number of them, qualify to be classified as rare diseases such as those of organs like hypophysis, adrenal glands, gonads as well as some congenital thyroid diseases. Others like Diabetes are considering almost epidemic.Objective:To define the types of diseases observed in the only Endocrinology Clinic in Guyana. Methods:The diagnoses of all patients who attended the endocrinology clinic of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation from June 1, 2016 to May 31, 2017, were analyzed.Results:During the one year of this study, approximately 639 patients attended the endocrinology clinic. Of this, 178 patients had thyroid-related diseases with 80 of these having thyrotoxicosis, 49 having hypothyroidism followed by 110 patients with diabetes mellitus. Pituitary tumors were also diagnosed with 2 of acromegaly and 6 of prolactinomas. Cases of hypoadrenalism (n = 5), hypogonadism (n = 4), and pheochromocytoma (n = 6) were not rare; gonadal disease were also found in 17 patients. Thyroid disease wasthe most frequent diagnosis followed by diabetes mellitus. New emerging endocrine disorders such as hyperlipidemia (n = 1) were rare. Some persons attending the clinic were also noted to be overweight /obese however this was not the primary reason for joining the clinic. Traditional diseases such as Sheehan Syndrome have become rare due to improvements in Obstetric care.