Pituicytoma and Cushing’s Disease in a 7-Year-Old Girl: A Mere Coincidence?

Posted on November 9, 2015 by MaryO

Paola Cambiaso, Donato Amodio, Emidio Procaccini, Daniela Longo, Stefania Galassi, Francesca Diomedi Camassei, Marco Cappa

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Abstract

Pituicytoma is a tumor extremely rare in childhood, with only 4 cases reported in literature. It is thought to arise from the specialized glial elements called “pituicytes.” The association of pituicytoma and Cushing’s disease (CD) has been described only once so far, in an adult patient.

A 7-year-old girl was referred for clinical signs of hypercortisolism, and a diagnosis of CD was made. MRI revealed 2 pathologic areas in the pituitary gland. The patient underwent surgery, with microscopic transsphenoidal approach, and a well-circumscribed area of pathologic tissue was identified and removed. Surprisingly, histologic and immunohistochemical study provided unequivocal evidence of pituicytoma. No pituitary adenoma could be identified.

For persistent hypercortisolism, the patient necessitated transsphenoidal endoscopic reintervention and 2 other lesions were removed. By immunohistological examination, these lesions were confirmed to be corticotropin-secreting adenoma. Unfortunately, there was no postoperative decrease in corticotropin and cortisol levels, and the patient underwent bilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy.

Considering that we report a second case of association of pituicytoma and corticotropin-secreting adenoma, that CD is infrequent, and pituicytoma is extremely rare in childhood, the coexistence of these 2 tumors should not be considered a mere coincidence. To date, there is no conclusive evidence about the origin of these different subtypes of pituitary tumors. This case supports the hypothesis that these tumors share a common progenitor cell, which could be the folliculostellate cell.

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Low Immediate Postoperative Serum-Cortisol Nadir Predicts The Short-Term, But Not Long-Term, Remission After Pituitary Surgery For Cushing’s Disease

Posted on October 26, 2015 by MaryO

Cushing’s disease is an ACTH-producing pituitary adenoma, and the primary treatment is microscopic or endoscopic transsphenoidal selective adenectomy. The aims of the present study were to evaluate whether the early postoperative S-cortisol level can serve as a prognostic marker for short- and long-term remission, and retrospectively review our own short and long term results after surgery for Cushing’s disease.

Methods: This single centre, retrospective study consists of 19 consecutive patients with Cushing’s disease who underwent transsphenoidal surgery.

S-cortisol was measured every 6 h after the operation without any glucocorticoid replacement. We have follow-up on all patients, with a mean follow-up of 68 months.

Results: At the three-month follow-up, 16 patients (84 %) were in remission; at 12 months, 18 (95 %) were in remission and at the final follow-up (mean 68 months), 13 (68 %) were in remission.

Five-years recurrence rate was 26 %. The mean postoperative S-cortisol nadir was significantly lower in the group of patients in remission than in the non-remission group at 3 months, but there was no difference between those in long-term remission compared to those in long-term non-remission.

The optimal cut-off value for classifying 3-month remission was 74 nmol/l.

Conclusion: We achieved a 95 % 1-year remission rate with transsphenoidal surgery for Cushing’s disease in this series of consecutive patients. However, the 5-year recurrence rate was 26 %, showing the need for regular clinical and biochemical controls in this patient group.

The mean postoperative serum-cortisol nadir was significantly lower in patients in remission at 3 months compared to patients not in remission at 3 months, but a low postoperative S-cortisol did not predict long-term remission.

Author: Jon Ramm-Pettersen Helene Halvorsen Johan EvangPål Rønning Per Hol Jens Bollers levJon Berg-Johnsen Eirik Helseth
Credits/Source: BMC Endocrine Disorders 2015, 15:62

Published on: 2015-10-26

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Cushing’s: Update on signs, symptoms and biochemical screening

Posted on October 11, 2015 by MaryO

10.1530/EJE-15-0464

  1. Lynnette Nieman⇑

+Author Affiliations


  1. L Nieman, RBMB, NIH, Bethesda, 20817-1109, United States
  1. Correspondence: Lynnette Nieman, Email: niemanl@mail.nih.gov

Abstract

Endogenous pathologic hypercortisolism, or Cushing’s syndrome, is associated with poor quality of life, morbidity and increased mortality. Early diagnosis may mitigate against this natural history of the disorder.

The clinical presentation of Cushing’s syndrome varies, in part related to the extent and duration of cortisol excess. When hypercortisolism is severe, its signs and symptoms are unmistakable. However, most of the signs and symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome are common in the general population (e.g. hypertension and weight gain) and not all are present in every patient.

In addition to classical features of glucocorticoid excess, such as proximal muscle weakness and wide purple striae, patients may present with the associated co-morbidities that are caused by hypercortisolism. These include cardiovascular disease, thromboembolic disease, psychiatric and cognitive deficits, and infections. As a result, internists and generalists must consider Cushing’s syndrome as a cause, and endocrinologists should search for and treat these co-morbidities.

Recommended tests to screen for Cushing’s syndrome include 1 mg dexamethasone suppression, urine free cortisol and late night salivary cortisol. These may be slightly elevated in patients with physiologic hypercortisolism, which should be excluded, along with exogenous glucocorticoid use. Each screening test has caveats and the choice of tests should be individualized based on each patient’s characteristics and lifestyle.

The objective of this review was to update the readership on the clinical and biochemical features of Cushing’s syndrome that are useful when evaluating patients for this diagnosis.

Read the entire manuscript at http://www.eje-online.org/content/early/2015/07/08/EJE-15-0464.full.pdf+html

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The New Molecular Landscape of Cushing’s Disease

Posted on September 27, 2015 by MaryO
Silviu Sbiera#, Timo Deutschbein#, Isabel Weigand, Martin Reincke, Martin Fassnachtcorrespondence, Bruno Allolio†
#These authors contributed equally to this work.
†A few days after acceptance of this manuscript, Bruno Allolio passed away.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2015.08.003

Cushing’s disease (CD) is caused by corticotropin-secreting pituitary adenomas and results in substantial morbidity and mortality. Its molecular basis has remained poorly understood until the past few years, when several proteins and genes [such as testicular orphan nuclear receptor 4 (TR4) and heat shock protein 90 (HSP90)] were found to play key roles in the disease. Most recently, mutations in the gene of ubiquitin-specific peptidase 8 (USP8) increasing its deubiquination activity were discovered in a high percentage of corticotroph adenomas. Here, we will discuss emerging insights in the molecular alterations that finally result in CD. The therapeutic potential of these findings needs to be carefully evaluated in the near future, hopefully resulting in new treatment options for this devastating disorder.

Trends

Transsphenoidal surgery and radiotherapy are the treatment of choice in CD. However, despite high initial remission rates, a significant percentage of patients relapse.

Owing to the poor understanding of the pathophysiology of CD, drug therapy is still limited and often only ameliorates the clinical manifestations through blocking of ACTH release or adrenal cortisol synthesis.

Recent research has identified several important proteins (e.g., EGFR, HSP90, TR4, and AVPR1b) whose deregulation is associated with CD and may therefore represent potential therapeutic targets.

Frequent, novel mutations in the USP8 gene that are associated with corticotroph pituitary adenomas were recently discovered that result in reduced EGFR degradation and increased POMC activation in vitro.

Keywords:

Cushing’s disease, pituitary, gene expression, epidermal growth factor receptor, ubiquitin-specific peptidase 8, 14-3-3 proteins

The entire article is available by subscription only.  More information here.

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Does a Normal Urine Free Cortisol Result Rule out Cushing’s Syndrome?

Posted on August 4, 2015 by MaryO
Endocrine Society’s 97th Annual Meeting and Expo, March 5–8, 2015 – San Diego
SAT-384:
Does a Normal Urine Free Cortisol Result Rule out Cushing’s Syndrome?
Susmeeta T. Sharma1 and Lynnette K Nieman2

  • 1Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
  • 2National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Presentation Number: SAT-384
Date of Presentation: March 7, 2015
Abstract:Background: Urine free cortisol (UFC) has been traditionally used as one of the first steps in the diagnostic evaluation of Cushing’s syndrome (CS) (1). False positive results, especially values less than twice the upper limit of normal (ULN), can be seen in uncontrolled diabetes, obesity, depression, alcoholism, increased fluid intake, overcollection and stress. False negative results have also been reported with incomplete collection, in mild or cyclic CS and in patients with renal insufficiency (2-3). We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of UFC and 24-hour urine 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17OHCS) in patients with CS.Methods: Retrospective study of all CS patients evaluated at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 2009 to 2014. Screening tests used for CS included UFC, 17OHCS, late night salivary cortisol (LNSC), midnight serum cortisol and low dose (1mg overnight or 2-day 2mg/day) dexamethasone suppression test (DST). Values above reference range for UFC, 17OHCS and LNSC, a midnight serum cortisol ≥ 7.5 mcg/dL, and post-dexamethasone cortisol values ≥ 1.8 mcg/dL were considered abnormal. Hourly 24-hour sampling for cortisol was performed in a few cases with a mild clinical phenotype and equivocal test results. UFC was measured using liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). 17OHCS was measured using colorimetric methodology with Porter-Silber reaction (reported as mg/g of creatinine). Mean of the first two UFC and 17OHCS values (appropriate collection by urine volume and creatinine) obtained within 30 days of initial NIH presentation were used for the purpose of this study.

Results: Seventy-two patients were diagnosed with CS (aged 18-77 years, 51 females). Of these, 51 had Cushing’s disease (CD), 10 had ectopic CS while 2 had an adrenal source of Cushing’s based on pathology. Biochemical tests including inferior petrosal sinus sampling (IPSS) suggested ectopic CS but no tumor was found (occult) in 6 patients. IPSS was indicative of a pituitary source in 2 patients with failed transsphenoidal surgery while one patient did not complete evaluation for ACTH-dependent CS. UFC results were available in all, 17OHCS in 70, LNSC in 21, midnight serum cortisol in 68 and DST results in 37 patients. UFC was falsely normal in six and only minimally elevated (< 2 x ULN) in 13 patients (normal renal function, no history of cyclicity, all had CD). Of these 19 patients, 24h 17OHCS was abnormal in all, LNSC was abnormal in 12, midnight serum cortisol was abnormal in 18 and DST was abnormal in 12 patients. Hourly 24-hour sampling for cortisol performed in 3 of these patients revealed abnormal nadir (> 7.5 mcg/dL) and mean daily serum cortisol (> 9 mcg/dL) levels.

Conclusion: UFC can be falsely normal or only minimally elevated in mild CS. Multiple collections and use of complimentary screening tests including 24-hour urine 17OHCS and LNSC can help make a diagnosis and prevent delay in treatment.

(1) Newell-Price J, et al. Cushing’s syndrome. Lancet. 2006;367(9522):1605-17.  (2) Alexandraki KI, et al. Is urinary free cortisol of value in the diagnosis of Cushing’s syndrome. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2011;18:259–63.  (3) Kidambi S, et al. Limitations of nocturnal salivary cortisol and urine free cortisol in the diagnosis of mild Cushing’s syndrome. Eur J Endocrinol. 2007;157(6):725-31

Nothing to Disclose: STS, LKN

Sources of Research Support: This research was in part supported by the intramural research program of NICHD/NIH

Read the entire article at http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/endo-meetings.2015.ahpaa.9.sat-384

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