Accidental Cushing Syndrome.
JCEM Case Rep
; 2(1): luad160, 2024 Jan.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38169884
ABSTRACT
We present a patient with Cushing syndrome secondary to accidental intake of corticosteroid tablets-a 66-year-old woman with a history of well-controlled hypertension, who over the course of a few weeks developed full-blown Cushing syndrome with uncontrolled blood pressure, typical central fat accumulation, and easy bruising. The clinical features further worsened upon increase of the dosage of her antihypertensive medication because of rising blood pressure. Biochemical analyses showed low cortisol and ACTH concentrations. Inspection of the patient's medications revealed that she had accidentally been taking corticosteroids tablets, prescribed for her husband, instead of antihypertensives, ie, dexamethasone 4â
mg and then 8â
mg, instead of candesartan at the same dose. This case highlights the necessity of a thorough review of the medications taken by patients suspected to have exogenous Cushing syndrome, including inspection of the original packaging, and not just relying on information from the patient and electronic health records. This case also highlights the need of special labeling on the packaging for the easy identification of corticosteroid-containing medications given their widespread availability.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Prognostic_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
JCEM Case Rep
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Suecia
Country of publication:
Reino Unido