Primary adrenal insufficiency (PAI) can be confidently ruled out when the morning (eg, 6 AM) serum cortisol level is greater than 17 ug/dl. Lower cut-off values are associated with lower probability of excluding PAI: > 10 ug/dl, 62%-67% and ≥5 ug/dl, 36%. ^1,2 Conversely, PAI is highly likely when the morning serum cortisol level is less than 3 ug/dl. ³

Since many patients may have serum cortisol levels between 3 ug/dl and 17 ug/dl (ie, in the “indeterminate” range), confirmatory testing commonly performed through cosyntropin stimulation test (CST) is often necessary.

Although the standard CST involves measuring serum cortisol levels at baseline, 30 min, and 60 min with peak cortisol level <18 ug/dl indicative of PAI, several studies have reported that a single post-CST cortisol level obtained at 60 min may also be diagnostic. ³

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References

1. Erturk E, Jaffe CA, Barkan AL. Evaluation of the integrity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by insulin hypoglycemia test. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 83;2350-54. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9661607
2. Bornstein SR, Allolio B, Arlt W, et al. Diagnosis and treatment of primary adrenal insufficiency: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2016;101:364-89. https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/101/2/364/2810222
3. Odom DC, Gronowski AM, Odom E, et al. A single, post-ACTH cortisol measurement to screen for adrenal insufficiency in the hospitalized patient. J Hosp Med 2018;13: E1-E5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29444197