| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
CLINICAL STUDY |
Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e Biologiche, Medicina Interna I, A.S.O. San Luigi, Università di Torino, Orbassano 10043, Italy
(Correspondence should be addressed to G Reimondo; Email: g.reimondo{at}virgilio.it)
Objective: It is presently unclear whether the accuracy of midnight serum cortisol (F24) in the diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome (CS) may be replicated under usual conditions of clinical care. The aim of the present study was to assess retrospectively the effectiveness of F24 for confirming the diagnosis in a consecutive series of 106 patients, in 78 of whom a definitive diagnosis of CS was made.
Design and methods: We have compared the results of F24, urinary free cortisol (UFC) and the overnight 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test (DST) with the definitive clinical diagnosis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis has been performed to define the best cutoff values, the sensitivity (Se) and the specificity (Sp) of the tests.
Results: The best cutoff value for F24 was 8.3 µg/dl (Se 91.8%; Sp 96.4%). The best cutoff value for the DST was 4.0 µg/dl (Se 89.2%; Sp 90.9%). The best cutoff value for UFC was 238 µg/24 h (Se 73.2%; Sp 96.3%). The area under the curve of F24 was significantly greater than that of UFC, both in the overall series (P = 0.004) and in the subgroup of patients with mild CS (P = 0.02). The differences were analyzed by means of the two-tailed students’s t-test. With the thresholds generated by the ROC analysis, UFC would have failed to achieve the correct diagnosis in a significantly higher percentage of cases than F24 (20.4% vs 7.9%; P = 0.01). The difference was analyzed by means of the chi-squared test with Yates correction.
Conclusions: The present results show that F24 has excellent effectiveness in the diagnostic procedures for CS in stressed conditions (patients studied in a hospital ward in a nonsleeping state). The test appears to be accurate also for patients with mild hypercortisolism.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  G. Reimondo, S. Bovio, B. Allasino, S. De Francia, B. Zaggia, I. Micossi, A. Termine, F. De Martino, P. Paccotti, F. Di Carlo, et al. The combined low-dose dexamethasone suppression corticotropin-releasing hormone test as a tool to rule out Cushing's syndrome Eur. J. Endocrinol., November 1, 2008; 159(5): 569 - 576. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. K. Nieman, B. M. K. Biller, J. W. Findling, J. Newell-Price, M. O. Savage, P. M. Stewart, and V. M. Montori The Diagnosis of Cushing's Syndrome: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., May 1, 2008; 93(5): 1526 - 1540. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. B. Elamin, M. H. Murad, R. Mullan, D. Erickson, K. Harris, S. Nadeem, R. Ennis, P. J. Erwin, and V. M. Montori Accuracy of Diagnostic Tests for Cushing's Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Metaanalyses J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., May 1, 2008; 93(5): 1553 - 1562. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Kidambi, H. Raff, and J. W Findling Limitations of nocturnal salivary cortisol and urine free cortisol in the diagnosis of mild Cushing's syndrome Eur. J. Endocrinol., December 1, 2007; 157(6): 725 - 731. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Gatta, O. Chabre, C. Cortet, M. Martinie, J.-B. Corcuff, P. Roger, and A. Tabarin Reevaluation of the Combined Dexamethasone Suppression-Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone Test for Differentiation of Mild Cushing's Disease from Pseudo-Cushing's Syndrome J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., November 1, 2007; 92(11): 4290 - 4293. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
F. Pecori Giraldi, A. G. Ambrogio, M. De Martin, L. M. Fatti, M. Scacchi, and F. Cavagnini Specificity of First-Line Tests for the Diagnosis of Cushing's Syndrome: Assessment in a Large Series J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., November 1, 2007; 92(11): 4123 - 4129. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Dovio, B. Allasino, E. Palmas, M. Ventura, A. Pia, L. Saba, E. Aroasio, M. Terzolo, and A. Angeli Increased Osteoprotegerin Levels in Cushing's Syndrome Are Associated with an Adverse Cardiovascular Risk Profile J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., May 1, 2007; 92(5): 1803 - 1808. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 I. Chiodini, G. Adda, A. Scillitani, F. Coletti, V. Morelli, S. Di Lembo, P. Epaminonda, B. Masserini, P. Beck-Peccoz, E. Orsi, et al. Cortisol Secretion in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: Relationship with chronic complications Diabetes Care, January 1, 2007; 30(1): 83 - 88. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. W. Findling and H. Raff Cushing's Syndrome: Important Issues in Diagnosis and Management J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., October 1, 2006; 91(10): 3746 - 3753. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
