Table 1.
Summary of peer-reviewed cross-sectional studies reporting adrenal insufficiency in patients infected with COVID-19.
| Authors | Date | Design | Sample size N (%) | Male (%) | Age (years) | Adrenal insufficiency assessment findings | Adrenal insufficiency type | Adrenal insufficiency frequency (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laboratory data | Radiographic findings | |||||||||
| Alzahrani et al. [25] | 7 May –20 May 2020 | Cross-sectional | Total | 28 (100) | 16 (57.1) | Median: 45.5 (range: 25–69) | Median cortisol: 196 (range: 31–587) nmol/l | NA | Central | Days 1–2: 18 out of 28 (64.3) |
| Median ACTH: 18.5 (range: 4–38) ng/l | Days 3–5: 9 out of 20 (45) | |||||||||
| Cortisol< 100 nmol/l: 8 (28.6%) | ||||||||||
| Cortisol< 200 nmol/l: 14 (50%) | Days 8–11: 9 out of 15 (60) | |||||||||
| Cortisol< 300 nmol/l: 18 (64.3%) | ||||||||||
| ACTH<10 ng/l: 7 (26.9) | ||||||||||
| ACTH<20 ng/l: 17 (60.7%) | ||||||||||
| ACTH<30 ng/l: 23 (82.1%) | ||||||||||
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| Leyendecker et al. [26] | 9 March –10 April 2020 | Cross-sectional | Total | 219 (100) | NA | Combination of hyperkalemia (>5 mmol/L), hyponatremia (<130 mmol/L), and hypoglycemia (<3.9 mmol/L) | Enlargement of adrenal glands with peripheral fat stranding in suprarenal region | NA | 7 (3.1) | |
| Acute adrenal infarction | 51 (23) | 36 (70.5) | 67 ± 11 (range: 42–88) | 4 (7.8) | ||||||
| No acute adrenal infarction | 168 (77) | 123 (73.2) | 67 ± 15 (range: 22–96) | 3 (1.7) | ||||||
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| Mao et al. [27] | 1 March –1 May 2020 | Cross-sectional | Total | 21 (100) | 5 (23.8) | NA | Cortisol<10 µg/dl | NA | NA | NA |
| COVID-19 group | 9 (42.9) | 1 (11.1) | 71.7 ± 8.1 | 6 (66.6)∗ | ||||||
| Non COVID-19 | 12 (57.1) | 4 (33.3) | 68.9 ± 20.2 | NA | ||||||
ACTH: adrenocorticotropic hormone; NA: not available. ∗Adrenal insufficiency was suggested to be in context of critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency.