Adrenal Insufficiency in Cystic Fibrosis: A Rare Phenomenon?

Background: The prevalence of adrenal insufficiency (AI) in cystic fibrosis (CF) is unknown. The frequent use of glucocorticoids (inhaled or systemic) may induce the long-term suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Methods: We reviewed the results of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulation tests done over a 10-year period to evaluate adrenal function in 69 CF patients of the CHUM CF clinic. Clinical characteristics of AI patients were compared to adrenal-sufficient (AS) patients. Results: AI was confirmed in 33 of the 69 CF patients. A higher rate of dysglycemia (P=0.022) and of Aspergillus positive culture (P=0.006) was observed in AI patients compared to AS patients. Weight, CFTR genotype, and pulmonary function were comparable between AI and AS patients. The use of systemic corticosteroids (SC) prior to the diagnosis of AI was observed in 42.4% of patients. Compared to AI patients without SC, SC-treated AI patients were older and had a higher rate of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis. Conclusion: This study is the first to systematically examine the presence of AI in the largest cohort of CF patients studied to date with a prevalence of 8%. Patients treated with corticosteroids and those colonized with Aspergillus have a greater risk of AI.

Is intra-operative ultrasound still useful for the detection of a hepatic tumour in the era of modern pre-operative imaging?

BACKGROUND: The current role of intra-operative ultrasound (IOUS) is questioned because of recent progress in medical imaging. The aim of the present study was to determine the accuracy of IOUS in the detection of a hepatic tumour (HT) compared with a pre-operative multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: This retrospective study included 418 patients evaluated using an 8-slice MDCT scan (SCAN8), 64-slice MDCT scan (SCAN64) and MRI alone or combined with a computed tomography (CT) scan. The pathological result was used as a gold standard. RESULTS: Correlation rates for the number of detected lesions compared with pathology results were 0.627 for SCAN8, 0.785 for SCAN64, 0.657 for MRI and 0.913 for IOUS. Compared with pathology, the rate of concordance was significantly higher with IOUS (0.871) than with SCAN8 (0.736; P=0.011), SCAN64 (0.792; P<0.001) and MRI (0.742; P<0.001). IOUS was responsible for a change in operative strategy in 16.5% of patients. Surgery was extended in 12.4%, limited in 1.7% and abandoned in 2.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with cross-sectional pre-operative imaging, IOUS is still superior for the detection of HT and the planning of surgery. IOUS remains recommended as a routine procedure in patients having a hepatic resection in the era of modern pre-operative imaging.