ESPE Abstracts

Background: Prolactin is a peptide hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland. Hyperprolactinemia can be caused by stress, but pathological causes of hyperprolactinemia could be due hypothyroidism, medications or hypothalamic/pituitary tumors. It is important to differentiate between the causes of hyperprolactinemia. The best way to accomplish this is via a rest test. One way to accomplish this would be to measure prolactin levels as a part of a hormone ...

Background: Treatment of a subset of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) patients consists of glucocorticoids, such hydrocortisone and prednisone. Doses are titrated to achieve adequate levels of biochemical markers, namely 17-hydroxyprogesterone and androstenedione. When these biomarkers are abnormal, medication adherence is often considered. However, alterations in glucocorticoid sensitivity is rarely considered. We have created a fluorescein labeled dexame...

Background: For many patients with high-risk cancers, allogeneic stem cell transplant (SCT) is the only curative option. A major risk of SCT is acute graft versus host disease (aGVHD). About 50% of SCT patients develop aGVHD as a part of their course. Glucocorticoids are the mainstay of therapy in aGVHD patients. Of the patients that develop aGVHD, about 50% develop a steroid refractory/resistant form. These patients tend to require higher doses of steroids and many will requi...

Background: Educating patients and families on the management of Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) has always been a challenge. Some endocrinologists educate patients and families with new onset Type 1 DM in the inpatient setting, while others have tried to do this process as an outpatient given the changes in the limits of inpatient coverage. Given the challenges in the education process, we must find new and innovative ways to educate patients and families efficiently in order t...