Cerebral salt wasting following traumatic brain injury

Hyponatraemia is the most commonly encountered electrolyte disturbance in neurological high dependency and intensive care units. Cerebral salt wasting (CSW) is the most elusive and challenging of the causes of hyponatraemia, and it is vital to distinguish it from the more familiar syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). Managing CSW requires correction of the intravascular volume depletion and hyponatraemia, as well as mitigation of on-going substantial sodium losses. Herein we describe a challenging case of CSW requiring large doses of hypertonic saline and the subsequent substantial benefit with the addition of fludrocortisone

Maturation in serum thyroid function parameters over childhood and puberty:results of a longitudinal study

Context: Serum thyroid hormone levels differ between children and adults, but have not been studied longitudinally through childhood. Objective: To assess changes in thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid hormone levels over childhood and their interrelationships. Design: Cohort study. Setting: The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, a population-based birth cohort. Participants: A total of 4442 children who had thyroid function measured at age 7, and 1263 children who had thyroid function measured at age 15. Eight hundred eighty-four children had measurements at both ages. Main Outcome Measures: Reference ranges for TSH, free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), their longitudinal stability, and interrelationships. Results: Children at age 7 years had a higher FT3 [6.17 pmol/L, standard deviation (SD) 0.62] than children at age 15 (5.83 pmol/L, SD 0.74); P , 0.0001 with 23.2% of children at age 7 having FT3 above the adult reference range. Higher FT3 levels at age 7 in boys (P = 0.0001) and girls (P = 0.04) were associated with attainment of a more advanced pubertal stage at age 13. TSH was positively associated with FT3 at age 7 and age 15 even after adjusting for confounders. In contrast, TSH was negatively associated with FT

A nationwide study of adults admitted to hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state and COVID‐19

AimsTo investigate characteristics of people hospitalized with coronavirus-disease-2019 (COVID-19) and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) or hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state (HHS), and to identify risk factors for mortality and intensive care admission.Materials and methodsRetrospective cohort study with anonymized data from the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists nationwide audit of hospital admissions with COVID-19 and diabetes, from start of pandemic to November 2021. The primary outcome was inpatient mortality. DKA and HHS were adjudicated against national criteria. Age-adjusted odds ratios were calculated using logistic regression.ResultsIn total, 85 confirmed DKA cases, and 20 HHS, occurred among 4073 people (211 type 1 diabetes, 3748 type 2 diabetes, 114 unknown type) hospitalized with COVID-19. Mean (SD) age was 60 (18.2) years in DKA and 74 (11.8) years in HHS (p < .001). A higher proportion of patients with HHS than with DKA were of non-White ethnicity (71.4% vs 39.0% p = .038). Mortality in DKA was 36.8% (n = 57) and 3.8% (n = 26) in type 2 and type 1 diabetes respectively. Among people with type 2 diabetes and DKA, mortality was lower in insulin users compared with non-users [21.4% vs. 52.2%; age-adjusted odds ratio 0.13 (95% CI 0.03-0.60)]. Crude mortality was lower in DKA than HHS (25.9% vs. 65.0%, p = .001) and in statin users versus non-users (36.4% vs. 100%; p = .035) but these were not statistically significant after age adjustment.ConclusionsHospitalization with COVID-19 and adjudicated DKA is four times more common than HHS but both associate with substantial mortality. There is a strong association of previous insulin therapy with survival in type 2 diabetes-associated DKA

Thyroid antibody-negative euthyroid Graves' ophthalmopathy

TSH receptor antibodies (TRAbs) are the pathological hallmark of Graves’ disease, present in nearly all patients with the disease. Euthyroid Graves’ ophthalmopathy (EGO) is a well-recognized clinical entity, but its occurrence in patients with negative TRAbs is a potential source of diagnostic confusion. A 66-year-old female presented to our endocrinology clinic with right eye pain and diplopia in the absence of thyroid dysfunction. TRAbs were negative, as measured with a highly sensitive third-generation thyrotropin-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin (TBII) ELISA assay. CT and MRI scans of the orbit showed asymmetrical thickening of the inferior rectus muscles but no other inflammatory or malignant orbital pathology. Graves’ ophthalmopathy (GO) was diagnosed on the basis of the clinical and radiological features, and she underwent surgical recession of the inferior rectus muscle with complete resolution of the diplopia and orbital pain. She remained euthyroid over the course of follow-up but ultimately developed overt clinical and biochemical hyperthyroidism, 24 months after the initial presentation. By this time, she had developed positive TRAb as well as thyroid peroxidase antibodies. She responded to treatment with thionamides and remains euthyroid. This case highlights the potential for negative thyroid-specific autoantibodies in the presentation of EGO and underscores the variable temporal relationship between the clinical expression of thyroid dysfunction and orbital disease in the natural evolution of Graves’ disease

Weekly Intramuscular Injection of Levothyroxine following Myxoedema: A Practical Solution to an Old Crisis

An 82-year-old female with known hypothyroidism was admitted to hospital after being found on the floor. On examination, she was unkempt, confused, bradycardic, hypothermic, and barely arousable. Initial biochemistry revealed a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) of >100 mU/L and free thyroxine (FT4) level of 1.5 pmol/L which supported a diagnosis of myxoedema coma. She was resuscitated and commenced on liothyronine, levothyroxine, and hydrocortisone and some improvement was made. It became apparent that she was hiding and spitting out her oral levothyroxine including levothyroxine elixir. Given the need for prompt alternative control, we sought advice from international experts where intramuscular levothyroxine was recommended. She was managed from day 50 onwards with intramuscular levothyroxine 200 mcg once a week, which was subsequently increased to 500 mcg. Thyroid function normalized and she made continual cognitive and physical progress and was discharged to a rehabilitation hospital. Her intramuscular levothyroxine was stopped and she was subsequently restarted on oral levothyroxine, with a plan for on-going close monitoring of her thyroid function. This report highlights the potential to use intramuscular levothyroxine in individuals with severe hypothyroidism arising from poor compliance with levothyroxine treatment or other potential causes such as impaired absorption

Weekly Intramuscular Injection of Levothyroxine following Myxoedema: A Practical Solution to an Old Crisis

An 82-year-old female with known hypothyroidism was admitted to hospital after being found on the floor. On examination, she was unkempt, confused, bradycardic, hypothermic, and barely arousable. Initial biochemistry revealed a thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) of >100 mU/L and free thyroxine (FT4) level of 1.5 pmol/L which supported a diagnosis of myxoedema coma. She was resuscitated and commenced on liothyronine, levothyroxine, and hydrocortisone and some improvement was made. It became apparent that she was hiding and spitting out her oral levothyroxine including levothyroxine elixir. Given the need for prompt alternative control, we sought advice from international experts where intramuscular levothyroxine was recommended. She was managed from day 50 onwards with intramuscular levothyroxine 200 mcg once a week, which was subsequently increased to 500 mcg. Thyroid function normalized and she made continual cognitive and physical progress and was discharged to a rehabilitation hospital. Her intramuscular levothyroxine was stopped and she was subsequently restarted on oral levothyroxine, with a plan for on-going close monitoring of her thyroid function. This report highlights the potential to use intramuscular levothyroxine in individuals with severe hypothyroidism arising from poor compliance with levothyroxine treatment or other potential causes such as impaired absorption

Association Between SGLT2 Inhibitor Treatment and Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Mortality in People With Type 2 Diabetes Admitted to Hospital With COVID-19

OBJECTIVE To determine the association between prescription of SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) incidence or mortality in people with type 2 diabetes (T2D) hospitalized with COVID-19. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This was a retrospective cohort study based on secondary analysis of data from a large nationwide audit from a network of 40 centers in the U.K. with data collection up to December 2020. The study was originally designed to describe risk factors associated with adverse outcomes among people with diabetes who were admitted to hospital with COVID-19. The primary outcome for this analysis was DKA on or during hospital admission. The secondary outcome was mortality. Crude, age-sex adjusted, and multivariable logistic regression models were used to generate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for people prescribed SGLT2i compared with those not prescribed SGLT2i. RESULTS The original national audit included 3,067 people with T2D who were admitted to hospital with COVID-19, of whom 230 (7.5%) were prescribed SGLT2is prior to hospital admission. The mean age of the overall cohort was 72 years, 62.3% were men, and 34.9% were prescribed insulin. Overall, 2.8% of the total population had DKA and 35.6% of people in the study died. The adjusted odds of DKA were not significantly different between those prescribed SGLT2is and those not (OR 0.56; 95% CI 0.16–1.97). The adjusted odds of mortality associated with SGLT2is were similar in the total study population (OR 1.13; 95% CI 0.78–1.63), in the subgroup prescribed insulin (OR 1.02; 95% CI 0.59–1.77), and in the subgroup that developed DKA (OR 0.21; 95% CI 0.01–8.76). CONCLUSIONS We demonstrate a low risk of DKA and high mortality rate in people with T2D admitted to hospital with COVID-19 and limited power, but no evidence, of increased risk of DKA or in-hospital mortality associated with prescription of SGLT2is