A simple and cost-effective approach to assessment of pituitary adrenocorticotropin and growth hormone reserve: combined use of the overnight metyrapone test and insulin-like growth factor-I standard deviation scores.

CONTEXT: The insulin tolerance test (ITT) is the gold standard for assessment of ACTH and GH reserve in patients with suspected hypopituitarism. It is labor intensive and costly.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to determine whether use of the overnight metyrapone test (OMT) and plasma IGF-I sd scores (SDS) could provide a cost-effective alternative to the ITT.

DESIGN

This was a retrospective chart review.

SETTING

The study was conducted at a teaching hospital.

PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTION: Charts from 100 patients with organic pituitary disorders were reviewed. All underwent the OMT unless 0900 h plasma cortisol was less than 80 or greater than 450 nmol/liter when ACTH deficiency or ACTH sufficiency, respectively, was diagnosed. Patients were considered GH deficient if the age-related IGF-I SDS was less than -3 or if they had three or more other pituitary hormone deficiencies. Patients were considered GH sufficient if age-related IGF-I SDS was greater than the 95th centile established from patients with known GH deficiency. Thirty-three underwent an ITT.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportion of patients in whom ACTH and GH reserve could be assessed using OMT/IGF-I SDS was measured. The concordance with results was obtained from ITT.

RESULTS

Fifty-five patients were ACTH sufficient and 45 were ACTH deficient. Twenty-one were GH sufficient and 33 were GH deficient based on IGF-I SDS and other pituitary hormone deficiencies, whereas 46 could not be classified. There was near-uniform concordance between OMT/IGF-I SDS and ITT. Initial investigation using OMT/IGF-I SDS resulted in a significant cost saving.

CONCLUSIONS

ACTH and GH reserve can be accurately and cost-effectively investigated using OMT/IGF-I SDS in approximately 50% of patients with organic pituitary disorders.