Long-time octreotide in an adolescent with severe haemorrhagic gastrointestinal vascular malformation.

Gastrointestinal vascular malformations are a rare cause of acute or chronic blood loss. Usually they are treated by endoscopic obliteration or surgical resection. When such a therapy is inapplicable, pharmacotherapy may be required. At the age of 15 years, our female patient suffered from transfusion dependent recurrent gastrointestinal haemorrhage due to multiple gastrointestinal vascular malformations. Gastroscopy, coloscopy and capsule endoscopy revealed numerous foci making both endoscopic obliteration and complete surgical resection impossible. Neither regular transfusions nor substitution with coagulation factors were helpful. However, subcutaneous octreotide resulted in immediate stop of bleeding. Initial treatment by daily subcutaneous injections was followed by monthly depot application. Over 3 years only 2 transfusions had to be given. The patient required thyroxin substitution, otherwise, no side effects occurred and the girl had a good quality of life. The authors conclude that octreotide is safe and effective in gastrointestinal angiodysplasias inaccessible to endoscopy or surgery.

Incidence of radiation-induced Graves' disease in patients treated with radioiodine for thyroid autonomy before and after introduction of a high-sensitivity TSH receptor antibody assay.

Autoimmune hyperthyroidism may occur several months after radioiodine therapy (RIT) for functional thyroid autonomy. Exacerbation of pre-existing subclinical Graves' disease (GD) has been held responsible for this phenomenon. Determination of TSH receptor antibody using solubilised porcine epithelial cell membranes is insensitive and may have failed to diagnose GD in these patients before RIT. Following the introduction of a more sensitive assay, using the human TSH receptor as an antigen, it has been expected that the incidence of radiation-induced GD after RIT for functional thyroid autonomy will be reduced. In a first group of 1,428 patients treated between November 1993 and March 1997 (group I) we used the porcine TRAb assay to exclude GD, while in a second group comprising 1,408 patients treated between January 2000 and December 2001 (group II), GD was excluded using the human TRAb assay. A matched control group of 231 patients was derived from group II. In group I a total of 15 (1.05%) patients developed obvious or suspected radiation-induced GD, while in group II 17 (1.2%) did so; the interval until development of GD was 8.4 and 8.8 months, respectively, after RIT. Serum anti-thyroid peroxidase levels before RIT were elevated in 36.4% of group I patients and 47.1% of group II patients, but in only 5.6% of the control group. Other non-specific signs of mild immunopathy of the thyroid were seen retrospectively in 73.3%, 64.7% and 16.0% of the patients in these three groups, respectively. In conclusion, the introduction of a high-sensitivity TRAb assay did not reduce the incidence of autoimmune hyperthyroidism occurring late after RIT for functional thyroid autonomy, but mild immunopathy of the thyroid is seen more frequently in these patients and seems to be a predisposing factor in the development of radiation-induced GD.