[Addison's disease: the challenge of an early diagnosis]

Addison's disease is a set of symptoms which is produced due to the destruction of the suprarenal cortex, of a mainly autoimmune origin, on account of the presence of antibodies which attack it. This destruction takes place in a generally slow manner, causing symptoms to appear in an insidious way, added to the fact that these symptoms tend to be unspecific. Therefore it is easy to understand that its diagnosis at an early stage will be very difficult and is often interpreted as another disease. It is only when the deficit is important and adrenal crisis develop that we can reach the right diagnosis in a situation where the death risk is considerably high. We presented a clinical case as an example of what has been described previously. After several months of progressively deteriorating symptoms and several visits to different medical units, the patient is diagnosed as having an adrenal crisis and is immediately admitted to the intensive care unit.