Cushing disease in children and adolescents: twenty years' experience in a tertiary care center in India.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, treatment modalities, and follow-up of pediatric patients with Cushing disease.

METHODS: In this retrospective analysis, we reviewed records of children (younger than 20 years) with Cushing disease who had undergone transsphenoidal adenomectomy in a tertiary health care center in India during the period of 1988 to 2008. Endogenous hypercortisolism was identified by a serum cortisol value ≥1.8 μg/dL during a low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (LDDST) with or without elevated midnight serum cortisol (≥3.2 μg/dL). Corticotropin dependence was defined by a basal plasma corticotropin concentration ≥5 pg/mL. Patients with normal pituitary imaging underwent bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS). Those with persistent or recurrent disease after surgery were treated with second-line interventions on a case-by-case basis.

RESULTS: Twenty-nine boys and 19 girls were included. Mean age was 14.85 (±2.5) years. Weight gain (98%), round facies (98%), and growth arrest (83%) were the most common manifestations. LDDST and midnight cortisol had 100% sensitivity for detecting endogenous hypercortisolism, while midnight corticotropin measurement had 100% sensitivity for defining corticotropin dependence. Magnetic resonance imaging and unstimulated BIPSS had 71% and 89% sensitivity, respectively, for diagnosing Cushing disease. Twenty-seven patients (56%) achieved remission after the first transsphenoidal operation with higher remission rates in those with microadenoma (75%). Basal serum cortisol <5 mg/dL on the fifth postoperative day predicted cure. Eight patients received postoperative radiotherapy, with 4 achieving remission.

CONCLUSIONS: Clinical presentation and diagnostic yield with various tests were similar to those previously reported in the literature. Remission rates were poor after first transsphenoidal operation in patients with macroadenoma and outcome was dismal with a second transsphenoidal operation. Serum cortisol concentration <5 mg/dL on the fifth postoperative day predicted cure.