In order to evaluate your application, the data that you submit via this form will be shared with the relevant Endocrine Network Convenors, staff working for the Society for Endocrinology and its Clinical Committee. We will store your data securely and only authorised personnel will be able to access it.

Dr Bilal Bashir, registrar in Endocrinology & Diabetes at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust is conducting a survey to enhance understanding and treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and chylomicronaemia among healthcare professionals.

The survey aims to quantify unmet clinical needs, inform future guidelines, and develop educational programs. This initiative addresses potential gaps in knowledge, offering tailored educational opportunities for healthcare professionals. The goal is to elevate the standard of care for patients with hypertriglyceridemia and chylomicronaemia. Participation in this survey provides a unique chance for professionals to contribute to medical knowledge and improve patient care.

Take part in the survey here before the deadline on 30 October 2024.

Trainees in Endocrinology/Internal Medicine working in the field of endocrinology are invited to participate in the research study “Mentorship in Endocrinology”.

The aim of this study is to characterize the current situation of mentorship in endocrinology training programs across the United States and Europe. 

Take part in the survey.

The Andrology Specialist Endocrine Network wants to improve NHS access to male infertility treatment.

Please spend just 2 min completing this survey, the deadline is 30 November:

https://forms.gle/WA91LnVuwP5E4ZiQA

Management of hypercalcaemia of malignancy survey

Hypercalcaemia of malignancy is common and its management requires collaborative working between endocrinology, oncology and acute medicine. There is a lack of evidence to guide best clinical practice. This survey is coordinated with other key national societies to provide an insight into the variation in clinical practice across the UK.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=slTDN7CF9UeyIge0jXdO42vOq5V-X79Lk7YUbqNtpj9URUVBNUdKS0I0M0JNWDZBT0kxOFJFS041Vy4u

Closing date: 28  November 2024

Send responses to: [email protected]

Lead author: Sherwin Criseno
Lead Institution: University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Deadline: 22 July 2022
Queries to: [email protected]

This online survey will provide useful information on the current practice of endocrine clinicians in the UK of offering rhGH treatment discontinuation in adults with GHD who have been on long-term replacement therapy. It will also determine the willingness of endocrine clinicians in the UK to take part in a future large-scale RCT.

Lead authors: Niki Karavitaki, Ross Hamblin and Athanasios Fountas
Lead Institution: Birmingham
Deadline: ongoing
Responses to: [email protected]

The advances and expansion in the availability of radiological investigations have led to an increase in the detection of incidental pituitary lesions. The majority are non-functioning pituitary microadenomas and referrals for their assessment are becoming more frequent in endocrine clinical practice. Evidence-based data on the most optimal initial assessment, as well as on the safe and cost-effective follow-up are scarce and, therefore, extent of investigation, frequency and length of monitoring remain unclear. This survey will help identify whether management strategies differ significantly amongst clinicians.

DOWNLOAD SURVEY

Lead authors: Jon Franklin
Lead Institution: Warwick Medical School
Deadline: 14 May 2022
Queries to: [email protected]

This study will explore endocrinologists’ conceptions of sex and gender and how these affect the care of transgender patients.

The two Warwick medical students conducting the survey are looking for clinicians at any stage of training to participate in a short, online interview at a time of their convenience.

Much more attention is now focussed on this topic, from both professionals and the lay public, and this survey aims to investigate the preparedness of the endocrine community to provide appropriate care.

With many more patients seeking gender-affirming medical treatment and GIDs referrals, for non-gender-conforming children, nearly doubling over the last five years, endocrinologists play a crucial—and expanding—role in the care of transgender patients. Several American and Canadian studies have assessed endocrine trainees’ and primary care physicians’ confidence in transgender health, but there is a lack of scholarship on UK endocrinologists’ understanding of transgender issues.

The survey is a short (30-minute) online interview, exploring ideas of sex and gender variance and fluidity, and how these conceptions may affect preparedness to treat transgender patients.

The survey opens on 1 March and runs until 14 May.

Lead authors: Richard Quinton & Helen Turner
Lead Institution: Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospitals, Royal Victoria Infirmary
Deadline: 1 May 2022
Queries to: [email protected]

Optimisation of sex hormone replacement is essential in the long-term management of patients who are hypogonadal due to primary or secondary hypogonadism. However, approaches to formulation of therapy, dose change (if any), monitoring for adequacy of therapy and safety are not standardised. The aim of this survey is to establish the spectrum of management across the UK.

COMPLETE SURVEY ONLINE

References

Hormonal Replacement in Hypopituitarism in Adults: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 101, Issue 11, 1 November 2016, Pages 3888–3921

Lead authors: Dr Cristina Ronchi
Lead Institution: Institute of Metabolism and System Research, University of Birmingham
Deadline: 15 March 2022

The purpose of this survey is to gain information about the frequency of adrenal haemorrhage and/or adrenal insufficiency in both patients with COVID-19 infection or those with definite or probable VITT.

Following this survey, we aim to collect clinical data for a UK multicentre retrospective audit.

TAKE SURVEY

Lead authors: Tristan Richardson
Lead Institution: Royal Bournemouth Hospital/ University Hospitals Dorset
Deadline: 20 November 2021
Queries to: [email protected]

This survey is to understand current management of patients on carbimazole and seek views on an app being developed to automatically calculate carbimazole dose adjustment based on thyroid assessment test results, which aims to replace some of the time intensive dose-adjustment of carbimazole for patients and HCPs.

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Lead authors: James Hawley and Wiebke Arlt
Lead Institution: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust / Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Deadline: November 2021
Queries to: [email protected]

Biochemical investigation is frequently undertaken to aid the diagnosis of PCOS. However, there remains no consensus on which tests are included, what cut-offs should be applied and what other conditions should be excluded before confirming a diagnosis.

This survey has been designed to gather information on current reporting practices.

COMPLETE SURVEY ONLINE

Lead authors: Kristina Island, Aparna Pal, John Newell-Price and John Wass
Lead Institution: Oxford
Deadline: 31 August 2021
Responses to: [email protected]

Background:
The increased risk of thromboembolic disease in patients with Cushing’s syndrome (CS) is well recognized with the association first reported 50 years ago(1-3). Since then, several studies have confirmed the higher risk of DVT and PE in patients with CS, the majority published in case series of patients with Cushing’s disease (CD), and most often noted in the peri-operative period (4-9).

Risk of VTE in CS is thought to be in the order of a 10-fold increased risk and most notable in the first year following diagnosis (4,10). VTE accounts for 3.6-11% of all deaths in CS patients (17).

The highest risk seems to be in association with surgery and has been most studied in the context of CD post pituitary surgery (4, 10, 11). However, elevated VTE risk is also recognised post adrenalectomy for CS (12-13). Of note, VTEs have also occurred whilst on anticoagulation: in their retrospective, single centre study, Suarez et al note that 12.8% of the VTE in CS occurred in patients who were anticoagulated with prophylactic enoxaparin at the time of the event, emphasising the high risk (13). There are limited data examining the actual impact of thromboprophylaxis on VTE incidence in CS. A couple of studies have done this retrospectively and note fewer events in anticoagulated groups or after thromboprophylaxis became routine practice in their centres (7,14).

Although a previous survey by members of the Pituitary Society showed routine perioperative VTE prophylaxis had increased (15), this practice is not routine, nor is there a consensus around when, and for how long treatment should be given, nor is it clear if similar regimes should be instituted post adrenalectomy. The 2015 Endocrine Society guidelines do suggest thromboprophylaxis but no specific recommendations are made (16). They advise:

1) Evaluating CS patients for risk factors of venous thrombosis
2) In patients with CS undergoing surgery, we suggest perioperative prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism.

Aim
To establish what is the current thromboprophylaxis practice in patients with adrenal and pituitary source CS across Endocrinology centres in the UK

Method
All UK endocrinology centres will be contacted with details of the project and a request to complete a survey of their current practice of anticoagulation in CS patients which will be collated and analysed at the SFE and Oxford.

References
1. Pezzulich RA, Mannix JrH. Immediate complications of adrenal surgery. Ann Surg. 1970; 172:125-130.
2. Sjoberg HE, Blomback M, Granberg PO. Thromboembolic Complications, Heparin Treatment and Increase in Coagulation Factors in Cushing’s Syndrome. Acta Med. Scand. 1976; 199:95.
3. Conn W. Epidemiology of Venous Thromboembolism. Ann Surg. 1977; 186:149-164.
4. Stuijver DJ, van Zaane B, Feelders RA, Debeij J, Cannegieter SC, Hermus AR, van den Berg G, Pereira AM, de Herder WW, Wagenmakers MAEM, Kerstens MN, Zelissen PMJ, Fliers E, Schaper N, Drent ML, Dekkers OM, Gerdes VEA. Incidence of venous thromboembolism in patients with Cushing’s syndrome:a multicenter cohort study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011;96(11):3525-3532.
5. Small M, Lowe GDO, Forbes CD, Thomson JA.Thromboembolic complications in Cushing’s syndrome. Clinical endocrinology. 1983; 19(4):503-511.
6. Manetti L, Bogazzi F, Giovannetti C, Raffaelli V, Genovesi M, Pellegrini G, Ruocco L, Iannelli A, Martino E. Changes in
coagulation indexes and occurrence of venous thromboembolism in patients with Cushing’s syndrome: results from a prospective study before and after surgery. Euro J Endocrinol. 2010; 163(5):783-791.
7. Boscaro M, Sonino N, Scarda A, Barzon L, Fallo F, Sartori MT, Patrassi GM, Girolami A. Anticoagulant prophylaxis markedly reduces thromboembolic complications in Cushing’s syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002; 87(8):3662-3666.
8. La Brocca A, Terzolo M, Pia A, Paccotti P, De Giuli P, Angeli A.
Recurrent thromboembolism as a hallmark of Cushing’s syndrome. J Endocrinol Invest. 1997; 20(4):211-214.
9. Wagner J, Langlois F, Lim DST, McCartney S, Fleseriu M. Hypercoagulability and Risk of Venous Thromboembolic Events in Endogenous Cushing’s Syndrome: A Systematic Meta-Analysis. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2019; 9:805.
10. Van Zaane B, Nur E, Squizzato A, et al. Hypercoagulable state in Cushing’s syndrome: a systematic review. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009;94(8):2743–2750.
11. Rees DA, Hanna FW, Davies JS, Mills RG, Vafidis J, Scanlon MF. Long-term follow-up results of transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing’s disease in a single centre using strict criteria for remission. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2002;56(4):541–551.
12. Babic B, De Roulet A, Volpe A, Nilubol N. Is VTE prophylaxis necessary on discharge for patients undergoing adrenalectomy for Cushing syndrome? J Endocr Soc. 2019;3(2):304–313.
13. Suarez M, Stack M, Hinojosa-Amaya J, Mitchell M, Varlamov E, Yedinak C, Cetas J, Sheppard B, Fleseriu M. Hypercoagulability in Cushing Syndrome, Prevalence of Thrombotic Events: A Large, Single-Center, Retrospective Study. J Endocr Soc. 2020;4(2):1-11.
14. Barbot M, Daidone V, Zilio M, Albiger N, Mazzai L, Sartori MT, et al. Perioperative thromboprophylaxis in Cushing’s disease: what we did and what we are doing? Pituitary (2015) 18:487–93.
15. Fleseriu MBB, Swearingen AGB, Melmed S. Hypercoagulability in Cushing’s disease: a risk awareness and prophylaxis survey on behalf of the Pituitary Society. The Pituitary Society website. 2017. https://www.pituitarysociety.org/sites/all/pdfs/15_Pituitary_Congress_program.pdf
16. Lynnette K. Nieman, Beverly M. K. Biller, James W. Findling, M. Hassan Murad, John Newell-Price, Martin O. Savage, Antoine Tabarin, Treatment of Cushing's Syndrome: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 100, Issue 8, 1 August 2015, Pages 2807–2831
17. Varlamov EV, Langlois F, Vila G, Fleseriu M. MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Cardiovascular risk assessment, thromboembolism, and infection prevention in Cushing's syndrome: a practical approach. Eur J Endocrinol. 2021 Apr 22;184(5):R207-R224. doi: 10.1530/EJE-20-1309. PMID: 33539319.

Lead author: William Bennet
Lead Institution: Sheffield
Deadline: 25 June 2021
Responses to: [email protected]

The Society's Clinical Committee request your help to gather data on the occurrence of subacute thyroiditis after COVID-19 vaccination.

Dr William Bennet and colleagues in Sheffield have had a case of subacute thyroiditis develop shortly after viral vector DNA COVID-19 vaccination (Oxford-AZ), and there is a literature report of it occurring following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. They want to find out your experience of this, to determine if this is a relatively common occurrence that endocrinologists must remain vigilant for.

The Andrology Specialist Endocrine Network wants to improve NHS access to male infertility treatment.

Please spend just 2 min completing this survey, the deadline is 30 November:

https://forms.gle/WA91LnVuwP5E4ZiQA

The Endocrine Team at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust would be interested in knowing how you use hypertonic saline in hyponatraemia in your clinical practice. If you are a UK-based Endocrine consultant or registrar in-training, and have used hypertonic saline to manage hyponatraemia, we would be grateful if you could complete and disseminate this survey. This will allow us to gain a better understanding of how patients are currently managed in the UK hospitals.

Management of Primary Adrenal Failure in Pregnancy. 

Despite guidelines for women undergoing pregnancy with primary adrenal insufficiency women may need individualised management with titration of medication to ensure optimal care; it would be useful to ascertain the extent of this and consider whether any further information might be required for management of these pregnancies in the future.

The audit would involve completion of an anonymised excel spreadsheet to include each local case of primary adrenal failure managed in pregnancy. Clinicians interested would be sent the spreadsheet, which includes biochemistry, medications and obstetric outcome as well as aetiology of adrenal failure (primary).

Following discussions at SfE BES last November, the Adrenal and Cardiovascular Network from the Society for Endocrinology is working with the Endocrine Team at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust to find out about steroid weaning and iatrogenic adrenal insufficiency.

We are interested to know how you currently manage patients referred by other specialties for help with steroid weaning.

To explore this further, we would be grateful if you could complete and disseminate this survey. This will allow us to gain a better understanding of how these patients are currently managed in our Endocrine clinics. There are no right answers to any of the questions – please answer as you would do normally in your current clinical practice.

The survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

Your responses will be valuable and will feed into on-going work around steroid weaning.