Simplified assessment of pituitary-adrenal axis in a stable group of chronic hemodialysis patients.
1) A stable group of hemodialysis patients in our study do not have a normal response to the cosyntropin test; 2) although one would expect chronic renal failure patients to accommodate to hemodialysis, our study demonstrates that hemodialysis may still serve as a useful stress test; 3) the reduced response to the metyrapone suppression test in our stable group of hemodialysis patients suggests impairment of the feedback mechanism of the pituitary-adrenal axis.
D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D003366:Cosyntropin; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008797:Metyrapone; D008875:Middle Aged; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000503:physiopathology; D006435:Renal Dialysis
D003366:Cosyntropin; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D006854:Hydrocortisone; D008797:Metyrapone