Adrenal insufficiency: Atypical clinical manifestations and difficulties in early diagnostics

• Ladygina D.O.
• Popova N.V.
• Yadrova Yu.A.
• Alekhin M.N.
• Lomakin N.V.
• Tatyana Yu. Demidova

Abstract

Adrenal insufficiency is often presented by a variety of symptoms. Late diagnostics can lead to development of adrenal crisis. There is almost always an acute stressor or cause of adrenal insufficiency in patients with adrenal crisis. It could be a serious infection, unmasking of secondary adrenal insufficiency in patients who are abruptly withdrawn from supraphysiologic doses of glucocorticoids or other acute, major stress. Patients often have nonspecific symptoms which leads up to delayed diagnostics and high mortality.

The typical and atypical clinical manifestations of adrenal insufficiency will be reviewed here. It also describes a case study of a young woman with psychosis due to adrenal crisis.

Keywords:adrenal insufficiency, Addison's disease, the psychiatric manifestations of endocrine disease, cardiomyopathy takotsubo

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