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- Volume 14,Issue 1
- New onset adrenal insufficiency in a patient with COVID-19
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Case report
New onset adrenal insufficiency in a patient with COVID-19
- Maram Hashim,
- Syed Athar and
- http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5581-3901Waqar Haider Gaba
- Correspondence to Dr Waqar Haider Gaba; drgaba{at}hotmail.co.uk
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 is the cause of COVID-19. Since the outbreak and rapid spread of COVID-19, it has been apparent that the disease is having multi-organ system involvement. Still its effect in the endocrine system is not fully clear and data on cortisol dynamics in patients with COVID-19 are not yet available. SARS-CoV-2 can knock down the host’s cortisol stress response. Here we present a case of a 51-year-old man vomiting for 10 days after having confirmed COVID-19 infection. He had hypotension and significant hyponatraemia. Work-up was done including adrenocorticotropic hormone stimulation test. He was diagnosed as suffering from adrenal insufficiency and started on steroids with subsequent improvement in both blood pressure and sodium level. COVID-19 can cause adrenal insufficiency. Clinicians must be vigilant about the possibility of an underlying relative cortisol deficiency in patients with COVID-19.
- adrenal disorders
- fluid electrolyte and acid-base disturbances
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Footnotes
Contributors MH wrote the initial manuscript and obtained consent. SA initiated the idea and reviewed the Discussion part. WHG finalised the manuscript, edited and revised it for BMJ.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.