Table 2.
Demographic characteristics of 105 patients comparing groups A + B (confirmed CD) vs group C (unconfirmed CD)
| Characteristic | Confirmed CD (n = 90) Group A + B |
Unconfirmed CD (n = 15) Group C |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (y), mean (±SD) | 44 (15) | 41 (17) | 0.57 |
| Female, n (%) | 77 (86) | 13 (87) | 1.00 |
| Preoperative BMI, mean (±SD) | 33 (6.9) | 32 (5.8) | 0.61 |
| Prior surgery (%) | 29 (32) | 1 (7) | 0.06 |
| Signs and symptoms (%) | |||
| Weight gain (n = 105) | 86 (96) | 14 (93) | 0.54 |
| Fatigue (n = 50) | 34 (87) | 11 (100) | 0.57 |
| Hypertension (n = 104) | 60 (67) | 7 (47) | 0.15 |
| Diabetes (n = 103) | 29 (33) | 4 (27) | 0.77 |
| Irregular menstrual cycles (n = 30) | 21 (27) | 5 (39) | 0.41 |
| Hirsutism (n = 29) | 16 (21) | 7 (54) | 0.01 |
| Violaceous striae (n = 31) | 15 (71) | 7 (70) | 1.00 |
| Easy bruising (n = 35) | 23 (82) | 6 (85) | 1.00 |
| Depression (n = 32) | 14 (56) | 5 (71) | 0.67 |
| Anxiety or psychosis (n = 29) | 15 (68) | 6 (86) | 0.63 |
| Laboratory and imaging | |||
| 24-h UFC LC-MS/MS (n: 4-50 µg/24 h) (n = 82) |
230.5 ± 262.3 (n = 70) |
52.3 ± 19.3 (n = 12) |
<0.001 |
| LNSC LC-MS/MS (±SD) (n: <0.09 µg/dL) (n = 41) |
0.44 ± 0.46 (n = 29) |
0.19 ± 0.33 (n = 12) |
0.003 |
| Serum cortisol after 1-mg DST (±SD) (n: <1.8 µg/dL) (n = 48) |
18.0 ± 18.6 (n = 41) |
8.1 ± 11.1 (n = 7) |
0.06 |
| Plasma ACTH (±SD) (n: 6-50 pg/mL) (n = 102) | 61.7 ± 47.9 (n = 87) |
45.8 ± 41.6 (n = 15) |
0.03 |
| Pituitary lesion present on MRI, n (%) | 76 (84) | 10 (67) | 0.14 |
| Mean pituitary lesion size on MRI (±SD), mm | 9.1 (7.9) | 4.0 (1.8) | <0.001 |
Missing data were not included in the analysis. P values were obtained via nonparametric methods.
Abbreviations: 24-h UFC, 24-hour urinary free cortisol; BMI, body mass index; CD, Cushing disease; DST, dexamethasone stimulation test; LC-MS/MS, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectometry; LNSC, late night salivary cortisol; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; UFC, urinary free cortisol.