ESPE Abstracts

Background: Measurement of salivary glucocorticoids is an accepted method for testing adrenal function and is gaining popularity as it offers a non-invasive collection technique, enabling sampling in the community or home environment, allowing tailored capture of steroid circadian rhythm and improved patient experience. However, there is little data on stability during home collection and sampling methods in young children. Current salivary collection techniqu...

Background: The Short Synacthen Test (SST) is the most popular test of adrenal insufficiency (AI) worldwide. The current SST protocol at Sheffield Children’s Hospital (SCH), UK, recommends measurement of serum cortisol at baseline, then 30- and 60-minutes post stimulation, with a peak cortisol of >429nmol/l constituting a pass. Our practice has evolved to consider near-pass results as “borderline” and patients may be treated with stress do...

Background: The current screening test for adrenal insufficiency (AI) involves patients traveling to attend hospital for an “early” morning serum cortisol (EMC) sample, generally taken some considerable time after the child has woken. This risks missing the morning cortisol peak, leading to false positive results and necessitating further testing, usually by the Short Synacthen Test (SST). Both EMC and SST require venepuncture, which is resource in...