Salivary Cortisol Determination in ACTH Stimulation Test to Diagnose Adrenal Insufficiency in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Table 7

Number of cirrhotic patients meeting at least one criterion for the diagnosis of AI based on serum cortisol and salivary cortisol thresholds during 250 μg ACTH test (N=39).

Criterion	AI based on TSC	AI based on SaC
AI defined from T0, n
AI defined from T60, n
AI defined from the difference between 0 and 60 min, n
Total number of patients reaching at least one of the three criteria of adrenal insufficiency, n (%)	19 (48.7%)	12 (30.8%)

AI, adrenal insufficiency; TSC, total serum cortisol; SaC, salivary cortisol; T₀, baseline; T₆₀, 60 min after administration. To convert cortisol micrograms per deciliter to nanomoles per liter, multiply by 27.6.
T₀ TSC <9 μg/dL, T₆₀ TSC <18 μg/dL, ΔTSC<9 μg/dL.
T₀ SaC<0.08 μg/dL, T₆₀ SaC<1.43 μg/dL, ΔSaC<1 μg/dL.