CUSHING'S SYNDROME IN CHILDREN ASSOCIATED WITH ADRENAL CORTICAL CARCINOMA

Abstract

THE ASSOCIATION of adrenal tumors with the clinical picture now identified as Cushing's syndrome was first observed by Cooke * in 1756. Cushing,² in 1932, collected 12 similar cases and concluded that pituitary basophilism was the underlying lesion. Cushing's original concept has been modified as a result of subsequent investigations.† In the pediatric age group Cushing's syndrome is most frequently caused by malignant adrenal tumors. Basophilic adenomas of the pituitary, while rare, have been reported in children in the absence of adrenal pathology.‡ The only case of Cushing's syndrome in a child caused by adrenal hyperplasia was described by Chute and his colleagues¹⁴ and occurred in a girl 8 years of age. Albright and Forbes § believe that all cases of Cushing's syndrome in infancy are caused by malignant adrenal tumors. Recently, however, Powell¹⁵ has observed an infant, age 3 months, with Cushing's syndrome who was found at