[Diagnosis of adrenal cortex insufficiency in steroid-dependent bronchial asthma--the CRH test in comparison with diurnal cortisol profile in serum and cortisol in 24-hour urine].

In 50 patients with bronchial asthma requiring systemic treatment with glucocorticoid preparations, a CRH test has been performed in addition to the conventional determination of cortisol in the serum and 24-h urine in order to evaluate the function of the hypothalamo-pituitary-cortico-adrenal axis. According to the CRH test, 19 of the 50 patients were suffering from corticoadrenal insufficiency, whereas both the conventional tests had yielded a high percentage of false-positive and false-negative findings. There was no indication for the assumption that development of insufficiency of the corticotropic axis was in any way dependent on the glucocorticoid preparation or on the dosage or duration of treatment.