Changes in radial and longitudinal left ventricular (LV) function were investigated in beagles with iatrogenic hypercortisolism. A total of 11 normal dogs were used, and 2 mg/kg prednisone was administered per oral q12 h for 28 days to 7 out of 11 dogs to induce iatrogenic hypercortisolism. Body weight, blood pressure, conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) of normal and...

CONTEXT Pituitary incidentalomas (PIs) are commonly encountered in clinical practice. The management of these asymptomatic pituitary lesions is still controversial. Systematic screening for subclinical or mild ACTH-dependent hypercortisolism (AH) is not presently recommended, due to the limited data available thus far on the epidemiological and clinical relevance of this condition in patients w...

OBJECTIVE Type 2 diabetes (T2D) and Cushing's syndrome (CS) share clinical characteristics, and several small studies have recorded a high prevalence of hypercortisolism in T2D, which could have therapeutic implications. We aimed to assess the prevalence of endogenous hypercortisolism in T2D patients. DESIGN Systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. METHODS A search was perform...

In this issue, Chiodini and colleagues (1) measured the prevalence of subclinical hypercortisolism in 219 consecutive patients 44 to 72 years of age with suspected idiopathic osteoporosis. These individuals had no known secondary cause of osteoporosis, had not received drugs known to influence bone or cortisol, and had no apparent signs or symptoms of cortisol excess (including moon facies, red...

Cortisol is a stress-response hormone that is important for survivability in fight or flight situations. Hypercortisolism is a state of chronically elevated cortisol levels due to a failure to return to, or maintain baseline levels. It is a condition that is often undiagnosed and can aid in the development of many physiological and psychological health problems. Some of the health ailments asso...

BACKGROUND Current guidelines for follow-up of adrenal incidentalomas are extensive and hampered by lack of follow-up studies. We tested the hypothesis that small lipid-rich adrenal incidentalomas, initially characterized by tumor size <40 mm and <10 Hounsfield units (HUs) on unenhanced computed tomography (CT) may not demonstrate excessive growth/hormonal hypersecretion on follow-up. METHODS...

Many Endocrinologists believe that a single determination of eucortisolism or a single demonstration of appropriate suppression to dexamethasone excluded Cushing's syndrome, except in what was previously thought to be the rare patient with episodic or periodic Cushing's syndrome. We hypothesize that episodic Cushing's syndrome is relatively common and a single test assessing hypercortisolism ma...

Pituitary-induced bilateral adrenocortical hyperplasia also known as pituitary-dependent Cushing's disease (PDH) accounts for about 85% of all cases of spontaneous hypercortisolism in the dog. It results from either an adenohypophyseal ACTH-secreting microor macroadenoma or from excess pituitary ACTH secretion due to oversecretion of corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) by the hypothalamus. Th...