Adrenal insufficiency in critically ill emergency department patients: A Taiwan preliminary study

Objective: Unrecognized adrenal insufficiency can have serious consequences in critically ill emergency department (ED) patients. This prospective pil ot study of adrenal function in patients with severe illness was undertaken to determine the prevalence of adrenal dysfunction and any relation to pri or herbal drug use. Methods: In a high-volume urban tertiary care ED, adult patients with sepsis or acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were eligible fo r the study. Over a two-month period, a convenience sample was enrolled by the authors on arrival to the ED. Inclusion criteria were systemic inflamma tory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria plus evidence of at least one organ dysfunction or cardiac marker plus electrocardiogram-proven AMI. Exclusion criteria included known corticosteroid use. Serum cortisol was measured on arrival and for those patients with a level of <15 <mu>g/dL (<414 nmol/L), an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation test was performed. Resul ts: Of the 30 enrolled patients, 23 (77%) were suffering from severe sepsis and the other seven (23%) had an AMI. Thirteen of the 30 patients (43%; 95 % CI = 25% to 65%) had serum cortisol levels of <15 mug/dL, consistent with adrenal insufficiency, nine with severe sepsis and four with an AMI. Eight (62%; 95% CI = 32% to 86%) of the 13 patients with low cortisol levels rep orted using herbal medications, while only two (12%; 95% CI = 1% to 36%) of the 17 with normal cortisol levels reported taking herb drugs (p = 0.01). Only two (15%; 95% CI = 2% to 45%) of the patients with low cortisol levels failed their corticotropin stimulation test, suggestive of true adrenocort ical insufficiency. Both reported using herbal preparations. Conclusions: T hese results indicate that adrenal dysfunction is common among a group of c ritically ill patients seen in this Taiwanese ED. Moreover, the use of herb al drugs was high in the patients with low serum cortisols. Further studies are required to both confirm these findings and clarify whether a number o f herbal medications contain corticosteroids.