Table 2 Primary and secondary study objectives
Primary study objectives: | |
• Prevalence and magnitude of LV hypertrophy (transthoracic echocardiography) | |
• Description of LV deformation characteristics (transthoracic echocardiography) | |
• Quantification of LV, total heart mass, and ventricular volumes (cardiac MRI) | |
• Assessment of systolic function and myocardial structural fibrosis (cardiac MRI) | |
Secondary study objectives: | |
• Cardiac morphology and function (using transthoracic echocardiography and cardiac MRI) | |
• Endothelial function (using Endo-PAT2000) | |
• Blood pressure (using resting and 24-h blood pressure measurement) | |
• Heart rate variability profile (using resting and 24-h electrocardiogram) | |
• Clinical features (waist-to-hip ratio, body mass index, bio-impedance analysis) | |
• Muscle strength (chair rising test, hand grip strength) | |
• Biochemistry (including hormonal, metabolic, cardiac and routine parameters) | |
• Evaluation of QoL and psychosocial status (using six questionnaires): | |
 - Disease-specific QoL (CushingQoL, Tuebingen CD-25) | |
 - Generic QoL (SF-36) | |
 - Generic health status (EQ-5D-3L) | |
 - Anxiety (GAD-7) | |
 - Depressive and panic disorders (brief PHQ-D) | |
• Comparison between patients with CS and controls without CS (i.e. from STAAB and SHIP-Trend) | |
• Comparison between patients with overt CS and patients with CS in remission |