Case Report: The “delta effect”: when endocrine pathology hides in plain sight

Most endocrine diseases are characterized by an inappropriately high or inappropriately low concentration of a certain hormone in the blood, but the relationship between the biochemical profile and morbidity of a patient with an endocrine disease cannot be reduced to a single deviation of a hormone concentration from a pre-defined reference range. Some patients hardly experience any symptoms, despite profound biochemical disturbances, whereas others seem disproportionately afflicted by measured plasma hormone concentrations which are seemingly normal. Rather than merely evaluating to what extent a plasma hormone concentration deviates from a pre-defined upper or lower limit, the dynamics and kinetics of this particular hormone should be considered with a special emphasis on its rate of change, which tends to correspond more closely to the perceived symptom severity than a single, static blood value: the “delta effect”. In this article, this phenomenon is illustrated by three relatable patient cases. A novel, clinically applicable equation is derived to describe this “delta effect” in a straightforward fashion, and to serve as a reminder that the symptoms of an endocrine disease should not be simply equated with an abnormal plasma hormone concentration, but that a kinetic (rather than static) interpretation of these blood values is necessary for adequate treatment and care. Hopefully, the presented model can help to shape clinical reasoning in both those experienced and unexperienced in the field of Endocrinology.