Critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency in patients with cirrhosis and variceal bleeding.

Background & Aims: Relative adrenal insufficiency (AI) occurs in patients with cirrhosis with sepsis, but not with variceal bleeding. We evaluated adrenal function in cirrhotic patients with and without bleeding.

Methods: Twenty cirrhotic patients with variceal bleeding were evaluated using the short synacthen test (SST) and 10 using the low-dose synacthen test (LDSST) followed by SST.