title: Diagnosis and classification of Addison's disease (autoimmune adrenalitis).
abstract: Autoimmune adrenalitis, or autoimmune Addison disease (AAD), is the most prevalent cause of primary adrenal insufficiency in the developed world. AAD is rare and can easily be misdiagnosed as other conditions. The diagnosis depends on demonstrating inappropriately low cortisol production and the presence of high titers of adrenal cortex autoantibodies (ACAs), along with excluding other causes of adrenal failure using other tests as necessary. The treatment corticosteroid replacement, and the prognosis following the treatment is the same as the normal population. Spontaneous recovery of adrenal function has been described but is rare.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Division, Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo Antonio
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Brandão Neto
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Division, Aliança Medical Center, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Electronic address: rodneto@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jozélio Freire
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
mesh_terms: D000224:Addison Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D000302:Adrenal Cortex / Q000276:immunology; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D016884:Polyendocrinopathies, Autoimmune / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D001323:Autoantibodies