ArticleHormone research in paediatrics2026
Limited Diagnostic Utility of Cortisol and Growth Hormone Levels Obtained during Hypoglycemia in Children.
Article in Hormone research in paediatrics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPediatric hypoglycemia has heterogeneous, age-dependent causes. Both growth hormone (GH) deficiency and adrenal insufficiency (AI) may be present with hypoglycemia; AI can lead to fatal adrenal crisis. Our objectives were to assess cortisol and GH responses to spontaneous hypoglycemia and determine the prevalence of AI (cortisol <500 nmol/L).
methodsRetrospective cohort was comprised of 133 children (1992-2022) with laboratory glucose ≤50 mg% during hypoglycemia.
resultsIn critical samples (CSs), cortisol <500 nmol/L was observed in 51.1% (n = 68) and <276 nmol/L in 23.3% (n = 31). AI was ultimately diagnosed in 5 patients (3.7%): four with multiple pituitary hormone deficiency and one with primary AI. Children with CS cortisol <500 nmol/L had higher median CS GH than the rest of the cohort (7.6 vs. 3.7 ng/mL, p < 0.001) and more frequent detectable insulin (53.3% vs. 35.6%, p = 0.052), with no other clinical or biochemical differences. CS cortisol correlated with fasting test nadir cortisol (r = 0.574, p < 0.001) and Synacthen-stimulated cortisol (r = 0.448, p = 0.004), but not with age (r = 0.026, p = 0.765) or CS glucose (r = 0.025, p = 0.802). CS cortisol was inversely associated with CS insulin (r = -0.242, p = 0.009). A CS GH <7.5 ng/mL was present in 56.9% of patients. CS GH showed inverse associations with age (r = -0.489, p < 0.001) and glucose (r = -0.332, p < 0.001), but not with height-SDS or weight-SDS (r = -0.046, p = 0.694; r = -0.021, p = 0.819).
conclusionsBlunted cortisol responses to spontaneous hypoglycemia in children are frequent, whereas AI is rare. In the absence of a reliable clinical discriminator, Synacthen testing is indicated. Suboptimal GH responses are also common, and further assessment should be guided by clinical judgment.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.