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E24.3: Ectopic ACTH syndrome

You have too much of specific messenger substances (hormones) in your body.

The messenger substance cortisol affects many processes in the body. For example, cortisol is released with stress. Cortisol also affects the sugar level and blood pressure. The messenger substance cortisol is created in the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are located on the kidneys. The work of the adrenal glands is influenced by a regulating messenger substance from the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is a gland in the brain.

In your case, too much of this regulating messenger substance is being created outside of the pituitary gland. That may occur for instance when you have cancer. As a result, the adrenal glands are also creating too much of the messenger substance cortisol.

If you have too much cortisol in your body, various symptoms may develop. With this type, the symptoms occur quite quickly and may increase over time. The muscles in your arms and legs may become thinner. You may thus be weaker than normal. The messenger substances also increase the sugar level in the blood. This may result in diabetes. In addition, the blood pressure may rise. The regulating messenger substance moreover causes very dark skin, for example.

Additional indicator

On medical documents, the ICD code is often appended by letters that indicate the diagnostic certainty or the affected side of the body.

  • G: Confirmed diagnosis
  • V: Tentative diagnosis
  • Z: Condition after
  • A: Excluded diagnosis
  • L: Left
  • R: Right
  • B: Both sides

Further information

Note

This information is not intended for self-diagnosis and does not replace professional medical advice from a doctor. If you find an ICD code on a personal medical document, please also note the additional indicator used for diagnostic confidence.
Your doctor will assist you with any health-related questions and explain the ICD diagnosis code to you in a direct consultation if necessary.

Source

Provided by the non-profit organization “Was hab’ ich?” gemeinnützige GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG).