Phaeochromocytoma and ACTH-dependent cushing's syndrome: tumour crf secretion can mimic pituitary cushing's disease.

Introduction: 10% of corticotrophin (ACTH)-dependent Cushing's syndrome arises from secretion by extrapituitary tumours, with phaeochromocytoma implicated in a few cases. Ectopic secretion by phaeochromocytoma of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRF), with secondary corticotroph hyperplasia, is even rarer, with only five cases in the literature hitherto. However, such cases may be classified as 'ectopic ACTH' due to incomplete verification.

The cortisol response to hypobaric hypoxia at rest and post-exercise.

High altitude exposure normally leads to a marked natriuresis and diuresis. Acute mountain sickness is often associated with fluid retention, to which an elevated cortisol may contribute. Most investigators report a rise in resting cortisol with ascent, but little data exist regarding the cortisol response to a day trekking.

Birth weight and early socio-economic disadvantage as predictors of sex hormones and sex hormone binding globulin in men at age 49-51 years.

Objectives: A number of associations have been shown between early growth and later sex hormone levels in women, but less is known about this relationship in men. This study investigated life-course predictors of sex hormones in men in the Newcastle Thousand Families birth cohort.

Methods: The Newcastle Thousand Families Study is a prospective study initiated in 1947.

The effect of exogenous glucocorticoids on plasma catecholamines and metanephrines in patients without phaeochromocytomas.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of steroid administration under standardised conditions in a range of patients both normal and with adrenal pathologies and to review the impact on plasma catecholamines and metanephrines. Corticosteroid administration has been linked to the development of hypertensive crises in patients with phaeochromocytoma, however a mechanism for this is not fully understood. We aimed to add useful information about the effect of steroids on levels of these hormones under usual circumstances.

Evaluation of NT-proBNP to predict outcomes in advanced heart failure.

Aims: To determine which factors predict outcomes in a group of patients with advanced heart failure, and in particular if NT-proBNP provides additional clinical and prognostic information to other haemodynamic and biochemical data.

Methods And Results: Ninety-one patients were studied who were being evaluated for heart transplantation, with 166 assessments. The patients had advanced heart failure as determined by median cardiac index of 2.