RESUMO
Objective The neuroendocrine response to critical illness is dichotomous as it is adaptive during the acute phase then transitions to maladaptive as critical illness becomes prolonged in 25-30% of patients. Presently, monitoring all critically ill patients for endocrinopathies is not the standard of care. However, given the negative impact on patient prognosis, a need to identify those at risk for endocrinopathies, may exist. Thus, a screening tool to identify endocrinopathies along the somatotroph and gonadal axes in a cardiothoracic surgery population was developed. Methods A prospective observational pilot study was conducted in two cardiothoracic surgery intensive care units (ICU) within a multi-site healthcare system. Total testosterone and somatomedin C levels were obtained from 20 adult patients who remained in the ICU for greater than seven days after cardiothoracic surgery and were tolerating nutrition, had a risk of malnutrition and a mobility score of moderate to dependent assistance. Results Twenty patients were included for descriptive analysis (seven females). Thirteen patients tested low for total testosterone, with males more likely to have a testosterone-related endocrinopathy as compared to females (100% vs. 0 to 43%, p = 0.0072). A higher proportion of low somatomedin C levels was found in females than males (57% vs. 31%); however, the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.251). Conclusions The screening tool used in this pilot study accurately predicted low total testosterone in all men and reasonably predicted low somatomedin C in a majority of women. However, the ability of the tool to predict low total testosterone in women and low somatomedin C in men is less certain. A gender-specific screening tool might be necessary to predict hormonal deficiencies.