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Endocrine Abstracts (2023) 90 EP107 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.90.EP107

Charles Nicolle Hospital, Endocrinology, Tunis, Tunisia


Introduction: Adrenal insufficiency is defined as a deficit in the functioning of the adrenal cortex. The acute form represents a diagnostic and therapeutic emergency, but the clinical presentation is sometimes misleading.

Observation: We report the case of a 57-year-old patient with a personal history of vitiligo, who was suffering for two months from asthenia with abdominal pain and vomiting, then he presented with a generalized tonic-clonic convulsive seizure requiring his urgent transport to the neurology department. His blood pressure was at 100/70 mmHg and the Glasgow score at 14/15. Biology showed severe hyponatremia at 119 mmol/l with hyperkaliemia at 6 mmol/l. Hormone assay confirmed the diagnosis of acute adrenal insufficiency in the presence of cortisolemia <5 µg/dl with a high ACTH level at 102.6 ng/l. The patient was immediately put on hydrocortisone sodium succinate with a marked improvement. Complementary adrenal CT showed bilateral adrenal atrophy in favor of the autoimmune origin of the adrenal insufficiency.

Discussion: Acute adrenal insufficiency is a rare pathology but which involves the vital prognosis in the short term. It must always be suspected, particularly in the face of evocative ionic disorders or a clinical manifestation not explained by another pathology. It is mainly a therapeutic emergency, even without a positive diagnostic certainty.

Volume 90

25th European Congress of Endocrinology

Istanbul, Turkey
13 May 2023 - 16 May 2023

European Society of Endocrinology 

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