Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36654996›Full record

ArticleAACE clinical case reports

Hypertension and Severe Hypokalemia Associated With Oral Ingestion of Topical Hydrocortisone Cream.

Arunava Saha, Suryanarayanan Balakrishnan, Nitin Trivedi, George M Abraham

Open access · goldAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in AACE clinical case reports. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 35% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Arunava SahaDepartment of Medicine, Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Suryanarayanan BalakrishnanDepartment of Medicine, Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Nitin TrivediDepartment of Endocrinology and Metabolic Medicine, Saint Vincent Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts.
George M AbrahamSaint Vincent Hospital; Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine; University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Saint Vincent Hospital · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Topical use of corticosteroids causes systemic effects, but systemic toxicity by ingesting topical corticosteroid cream has not been reported. We describe a patient admitted with ingestion of over-the-counter (OTC) hydrocortisone cream. Case Report: A 64-year-old woman presented with 2-weeks of generalized weakness. She had a history of hypertension, anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue syndrome, but medical records were unavailable and she was not on any medications. She reported taking prednisone 7.5 mg daily for several years, which was discontinued 5 months ago. Due to worsening symptoms, she started ingesting OTC topical hydrocortisone as replacement and admitted to consuming 2 squirts of 1% hydrocortisone cream twice daily over the previous month leading up to hospitalization. Her pulse rate was 77/min, blood pressure was 232/110 mmHg. There was no pedal edema, elevated jugular venous pressure, hirsutism, muscle wasting, or purplish skin striae. Labs revealed potassium 1.5 mg/dL (3.6-5.4), serum cortisol 61.5 μg/dL (2.3-19.4), Creatine Kinase 1864 IU/L (24-173), undetectable adrenocorticotropic hormone. She received potassium, labetalol, and intravenous fluids. Her serum cortisol level decreased to 11 μg/dL and potassium to 4.1 mg/dL within 24 hours. She left the hospital against medical advice on Day 2. Discussion: Although both prednisone and hydrocortisone have glucocorticoid properties, only hydrocortisone has mineralocorticoid properties. Hydrocortisone 20 mg provides a mineralocorticoid effect equivalent to 0.1 mg fludrocortisone. Conclusion: Hydrocortisone cream was confirmed as the source of exogenous corticosteroid by an undetectable adrenocorticotropic hormone and rapid decrease in cortisol following discontinuation. Incorrect use of OTC medications can lead to life-threatening side effects.

Indexed as

ACTH, Adrenocorticotrophic hormoneFDA, Food and Drug Administrationhypercortisolismingestionmineralocorticoid receptor activationOTC, Over-the-counterover-the-countertopical hydrocortisone

Identifiers

PMID36654996
PMCPMC9837079
OpenAlexW4306978310

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.