Adrenal Insufficiency

To the Editor: The concise review of adrenal insufficiency by Dr. Oelkers (Oct. 17 issue) 1 was excellent, but the corticotropin stimulation test is even less valuable than he suggests, and the incidence of clinically significant secondary adrenal insufficiency due to long-term glucocorticoid therap...

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Published inThe New England journal of medicine Vol. 336; no. 15; pp. 1105 - 1107
Main Authors Bromberg, Jonathan S, Fabrega, Alfredo J, Corwin, Claudia, Martin, Maureen, Pepper, Gary M, Oelkers, Wolfgang
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Massachusetts Medical Society 10.04.1997
Subjects
Adrenal Insufficiency - chemically induced
Adrenal Insufficiency - diagnosis
Glucocorticoids - adverse effects
Humans
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Summary:To the Editor: The concise review of adrenal insufficiency by Dr. Oelkers (Oct. 17 issue) 1 was excellent, but the corticotropin stimulation test is even less valuable than he suggests, and the incidence of clinically significant secondary adrenal insufficiency due to long-term glucocorticoid therapy is much lower than generally believed. 2 – 5 What does Dr. Oelkers recommend for patients receiving exogenous glucocorticoids? My data suggest that the adrenal function of such patients need not be tested except when there are clear-cut clinical indications, since in such patients the physiologic value of the biochemical tests is poor and clinical adrenal insufficiency is rare. . . .
Bibliography:SourceType-Other Sources-1
content type line 63
ObjectType-Correspondence-1
ObjectType-Commentary-2
ISSN:0028-4793
1533-4406
DOI:10.1056/NEJM199704103361516