Endocrine Abstracts

Background: It is controversial whether the attenuated increase of circulating cortisol to ACTH stimulation predicts treatment response to corticosteroids in patients with critical illness. We investigated whether ACTH testing predicts treatment response to corticosteroids in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).Methods: We performed a low dose (1 μg) ACTH test on admission in a prospective randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled mu...

Background: Glucocorticoids are frequently prescribed in inflammatory diseases. We investigated the influence of prednisone on classical and novel inflammatory markers in community-acquired pneumonia (CAP).Methods: We evaluated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, leukocyte and neutrophil count in a prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial which compared prednisone 50 mg for 7 days to placebo in patients ho...

Introduction: Systemic glucocorticoid therapy may put patients at risk for later adrenal failure during times of stress, but tapering increases cumulative steroid exposure. We prospectively evaluated adrenal function and clinically relevant hypocortisolism after abruptly stopping prednisone treatment in patients with exacerbated COPD.Methods: This is a pre-specified analysis of the REDUCE randomized trial (Journal of American Medical Association...