title: Efficacy of using basal plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone-radioimmunoassay (ACTH-RIA) level in the identification of the cause of Cushing's syndrome.
abstract: Basal (8.00 a.m.) plasma ACTH-radioimmunoassay (ACTH-RIA) levels were studied in 32 cases of endogenous Cushing's syndrome (17 Cushing's disease, 13 adrenocortical tumors, and 2 ectopic ACTH syndrome) and 11 normal volunteers. There were overlaps in the ranges of plasma ACTH-RIA levels among patients with Cushing's disease, adrenocortical tumors, and normal volunteers but not ectopic ACTH syndrome. By using different plasma ACTH-RIA levels as cut-off points in differentiating ACTH-dependent from ACTH-independent Cushing's syndrome, the level of 30 pg/ml had the highest diagnostic efficacy with a 94.7 per cent sensitivity, a 84.6 per cent specificity and a 90.6 per cent diagnostic accuracy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sriussadaporn
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ploybutr
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peerapatdit
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nitiyanant
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vannasaeng
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vichayanrat
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003480:Cushing Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone