Why the study?
Does an elevated post-dexamethasone serum cortisol level associate with hypertension in depressed inpatients?
Does an elevated post-dexamethasone serum cortisol level associate with hypertension in depressed inpatients?
Depressed inpatients with dexamethasone nonsuppression exhibit higher rates of hypertension, suggesting physiological impacts similar to Cushing's syndrome.
DST nonsuppression may link to hypertension in depressed inpatients; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective confirmation before practice implications.
We examined the clinical data for 230 depressed inpatients who had completed a dexamethasone suppression test (DST) to determine whether those with an elevated post-DST serum cortisol level exhibited any of the classic physiological stigmata of Cushing's syndrome. Hypertension was significantly more frequent among DST nonsuppressors (21.2%) than among normal suppressors (11.3%). Percent blood lymphocyte count was significantly lower among nonsuppressors. Confounders such as gender, age, body weight, and use of antihypertensives did not account for the findings. Implications for morbidity and mortality rates among patients with affective disorder are discussed.
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Pfohl et al. (1991) studied this question.
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