Published in:
Open Access
01-05-2018 | Understanding the Disease
Understanding adrenal crisis
Authors:
Karin Amrein, Gennaro Martucci, Stefanie Hahner
Published in:
Intensive Care Medicine
|
Issue 5/2018
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Excerpt
Approximately 5–17 cases of adrenal crisis (AC) occur per 100 patient years in patients with primary or secondary adrenal insufficiency (AI) [
1,
2]. The mortality rate is estimated to be between 0.5% and 2%. Norwegian data indicate that overall, 1 in 7 patients with Addison’s disease eventually dies from AC. It is estimated that AC will account for 5500–10,600 excess deaths in the European Union in the next decade [
3]. Often, these are preventable deaths in relatively young patients in the emergency department (ED) or intensive care unit (ICU) occurring from cardiorespiratory arrest in hypovolemic shock after delayed or insufficient steroid replacement, contributing to the excess mortality in patients at risk. …