Endocrine Diseases Flashcards
Adrenal Insufficiency causes :
- primary
- secondary and tertiary
- acute
- chronic
primary–addisons disease–MCC is autoimmune destruction of adrenal gland–>lack of cortisol and aldosterone
secondary–pituitary failure to secrete ACTH or suppression of HPA axis–>lack of androgens and cortisol
tertiary–hypothalamic disease and decr in CRH
acute–addisonians crisis
what happens if a PT is abruptly stopped on steroid tx?
adrenal insufficiency
- bc steroids provide exogenous negative feedback to the pituitary
- if steroids are stopped…the pituitary takes time to recover function–and during that time–adrenal insufficency can occur
in secondary adrenal insufficiency– ACTH is H/L and aldosterone is H/L??
ACTH–low
aldosterone–not affected so its normal
*of course low cortisol
MCC for acute adrenal insufficiency–Addisonians crisis
abrupt withdrawl of corticoid tx or a skipped dose of steroids
precipitating factors for addisonian crisis?
stressful event
- surgery
- illness
- trauma
- volume loss
- hypothermia
- MI
- fever
- hypoglycemia
- steroid withdrawl
MCC for addisonian crisis
abrupt withdrawl of glucocorticoids
imaging for chronic and acute adrenal insufficiency
CT: of the adrenal glands if unsure if insuff is autoimmune or not
CT imaging findings for Addison disease
small noncalcified adrenal glands
when do you see adrenal calcifications?
- tuberculous addison dz
- hemorrhage
- fungal infection
- pheochromocytoma
- melanoma
how to test for adrenal insufficiency (AI)
- order basic metabolic panel and do 8am measure of serum cortisol
- ->If results inconsistent with AI: consider other diagnosis
- ->If low cortisol levels, normal to high K and low to normal Na are found then go to: - Cosyntropin ACTH stimulation test: where we measure basal ACTH levels B4 administering IV ACTH–then we measure the cortisol levels after 30-60 mins
- –>if normal: consider other diagnosis
- –>LOW cortisol and HIGH acth–PRIMARY AI
- –>LOW cortisol and LOW acth–secondary AI - If primary AI:
- measure 21-hydroxylase antibody
- CT of adrenal glands
lab findings for primary adrenal insuff
- CRH
- ACTH
- cortisol
- Aldosterone
- Renin
- what would the ACTH stimulation test results show?
high CRH high ACTH low cortisol Low aldosterone high renin
ACTH stim tests would show: high ACTH
lab findings for secondary adrenal insuff
- CRH
- ACTH
- cortisol
- aldosterone
- Renin
- what would the ACTH stimulation test results show?
CRH: high ACTH: low Cortisol: low aldosterone: low Renin: normal to low
ACTH stim test: absent/low ACTH
lab findings for tertiary adrenal insuff
- CRH
- ACTH
- cortisol
- aldosterone
- Renin
- what would the ACTH stimulation test results show?
CRH: low ACTH: low Cortisol: low Aldosterone: low Renin: normal to low
ACTH stim test: exaggerated or prolonged
BMP results for adrenal insufficiency
- k
- na
- glucose
hyponatremia
hyperkalemia
hypoglycemia
list the disorders of HYPOfunction of adrenal glands
-both primary and secondary
PRIMARY
- ACUTE adrenal insufficiency–addisonian crisis
- addison’s disease
SECONDARY:
-pituitary failure of ACTH secretion–aka CHRONIC adrenocortical insufficiency
List the disorders of HYPERfunction of adrenal glands
-primary and secondary
- Cushing’s disease–SECONDARY
- Cushing’s syndrome
- Primary hyperaldosteronism
- Pheochromocytoma
Manifestations of ________ cause Cushing’s syndrome
Hypercortisolim
Hypercortisolism aka?
Cushing Syndrome
Different b/w Cuhsing’s DZ and Syndrome?
Disease: Pituitary Gland overprodues ACTH(due to hyperplasia or adenoma)—secondary cause of Hypercortisolim
Syndrome: s/s related to cortisol excess…..does not specify a cause of source of why excess cortisol.. has 4 main causes.. .ONE Of them is Cushing Disease
Four main causes of Cushing Syndrome
- Exogenous sources: long-term high dose glucocorticoids tx—-MCC overall!!!**
- Endogenous:
- over secretion of ACTh from AP—-cushing’s disease–MC endogenous cause!!!!!*******
* secondary
or
- Ectopic ACTH producing tumor/adenoma (MEN, SCLC)
- secondary
or
-Adrenal Tumor/adenoma (primary)
MC place for an ectopic tumor secreting ACTH
lungs—small cell lung Ca
low dose dexamethasone test is used as?
screening test for Cushing syndrome
when do we do high dose dexamethasone test??
after we get a negative result on low dose—- aka elevated cortisol levels
**used to distinguish a pituitary cause AKA cushing dz from an adrenal cause/other cause
Dexamethasone test results below indicate what cause of Cushing Syndrome:
- high ACTH with suppression of Cortisol
- High ACTH with no suppression of cortisol
- Low ACTH with no suppression of cortisol
- Cushing Dz (bc adrenals are sending neg feedback to AP—but AP is not listening)
- Ectopic ACTH producing tumor
- Adrenal tumor and/or exogenous steroids