Laboratory evaluation of the adrenogenital syndrome

The adrenogenital syndrome is a result of the deficiency of one of the enzymes involved in the pathway leading to the synthesis of cortisol by the adrenal cortex. Laboratory evaluation of the adrenogenital syndrome involves measurement of hormones and metabolites accumulated prior to the enzymic block as well as hormones whose synthesis is affected by deficiency of a specific enzyme. Laboratory measurements of hormone metabolites in urine, because of their nonspecificity, lack of sensitivity, and multiple assay steps resulting in poor yield, have been supplanted by specific and sensitive radioimmunoassays of steroid hormones in plasma. In the laboratory evaluation of the adrenogenital syndrome, problems involved in some of the immunoassays of selected hormones should be addressed. Variables owing to specimen collection, storage and handling, and the assay itself should be minimized and controlled.