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VIDEO: Cushing's syndrome still difficult to diagnose
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BOSTON — In this video exclusive, Hershel Raff, PhD, professor of medicine, surgery and physiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and scientific director and clinical research supervisor at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, discusses his presentation on the laboratory diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome.
According to Raff, Cushing’s syndrome is the most enigmatic disease in endocrinology and one of the most difficult to diagnose.
The use of late-night salivary cortisol for diagnosis has recently become popular although the test has been around for many decades. Patients can send samples by mail to have their cortisol measured in a laboratory to determine whether they have Cushing’s. According to Raff, the test is about 95% accurate in making a diagnosis.