Chronic Insomnia Can Be Sign of Cushing’s

Posted on May 9, 2021 by MaryO

Abstract

Background: Cushing’s syndrome is a condition caused by excessive glucocorticoid with insomnia as one of its neuropsychiatric manifestation. Cushing’s syndrome may be caused by excessive adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH-dependent), for example from ACTH producing pituitary tumors, or by overproduction of cortisol by adrenocortical tumors. In this report, we presented a case with Cushing’s syndrome manifesting as chronic insomnia with adrenal cortical adenoma and pituitary microadenoma.

Case presentation: A 30-year-old woman was consulted from the Neurologic Department to the Internal Medicine Department with the chief complaint of insomnia and worsening headache for 6 months prior to the admission. She had undergone head MRI and abdominal CT scan previously and was found to have both pituitary microadenoma and left adrenal mass. From the physical examination she had clinical signs of Cushing’s syndrome like Cushingoid face and purplish striae on her stomach. Midnight cortisol serum examination was done initially and showed high level of cortisol. High dose dexamethasone suppression test or DST (8 mg overnight) was later performed to help determine the main cause of Cushing’s syndrome. The result failed to reach 50% suppression of cortisol serum, suggestive that the Cushing’s syndrome was not ACTH-dependent from the pituitary but potentially from overproduction of cortisol by the left adrenal mass. Therefore, left adrenalectomy was performed and the histopathological study supported the diagnosis of adrenal cortical adenoma.

Conclusion: Chronic insomnia is a very important symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome that should not be neglected. The patient had both microadenoma pituitary and left adrenal mass thus high dose DST test (8 mg overnight) needed to be performed to differentiate the source of Cushing’s syndrome. The result showed only little suppression therefore the pituitary microadenoma was not the source of Cushing’s syndrome and more suggestive from the adrenal etiology.

Keywords: Cushing’s syndrome; insomnia; adrenal cortical adenoma; pituitary microadenoma; dexamethasone suppression test

Permalink/DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/jbtr.v7i1.9247I

Read the entire article here: https://ejournal2.undip.ac.id/index.php/jbtr/article/view/9247/5440

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Mortality rate in Cushing’s syndrome ‘unacceptably high’

Posted on March 25, 2021 by MaryO

A large study of mortality in Cushing’s syndrome calculated a threefold higher mortality rate for these patients, with cerebrovascular and atherosclerotic vascular diseases and infection accounting for 50% of deaths, researchers reported.

“[We have seen] improvement in outcome since 2000, but mortality is still unacceptably high,” Padiporn Limumpornpetch, MD, an endocrinologist at Prince of Songkla University in Thailand and PhD student at the University of Leeds, U.K., told Healio during the ENDO annual meeting. “The mortality outcome has shown an unacceptable standardized mortality rate of 3:1, with poorer outcomes in patients with adrenal Cushing’s [and] active and larger tumors in Cushing’s disease.”

Atherosclerotic vascular disease was the top cause of death in Cushing’s disease, with infection coming in as the second-highest cause of death. Data were derived from Limumpornpetch P. OR04-4. Presented at: ENDO annual meeting; March 20-23, 2021 (virtual meeting).

For a meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis of cause of death among patients with benign endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, Limumpornpetch and colleagues reviewed data published from 1952 to January 2021 from 92 study cohorts with 19,181 patients that reported mortality rates, including 66 studies that reported causes of death.

The researchers calculated the standardized mortality rate (SMR) for Cushing’s syndrome at 3 (95% CI, 2.3-3.9). For patients with adrenal Cushing’s syndrome, SMR was 3.3 (95% CI, 0.5-6.6) — higher than for those with Cushing’s disease, with an SMR of 2.8 (95% CI, 2.1-3.7). Rates were similar by sex and by type of adrenal tumor.

Deaths occurring within 30 days of surgery for Cushing’s syndrome fell to 3% after 2000 from 10% before that date (P < .005). During the entire study period, atherosclerotic vascular disease accounted for 27.4% of deaths in Cushing’s syndrome, and 12.7% were attributable to infection, 11.7% to cerebrovascular diseases, 10.6% to malignancy, 4.4% to thromboembolism, 2.9% to active disease, 3% to adrenal insufficiency and 2.2% to suicide.

“We look forward to the day when our interdisciplinary approach to managing these challenging patients can deliver outcomes similar to the background population,” Limumpornpetch said.

From https://www.healio.com/news/endocrinology/20210322/mortality-rate-in-cushings-syndrome-unacceptably-high

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Largest-ever analysis of its kind finds Cushing’s syndrome triples risk of death

Posted on March 22, 2021 by MaryO

WASHINGTON–Endogenous Cushing’s syndrome, a rare hormonal disorder, is associated with a threefold increase in death, primarily due to cardiovascular disease and infection, according to a study whose results will be presented at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting.

The research, according to the study authors, is the largest systematic review and meta-analysis to date of studies of endogenous (meaning “inside your body”) Cushing’s syndrome. Whereas Cushing’s syndrome most often results from external factors–taking cortisol-like medications such as prednisone–the endogenous type occurs when the body overproduces the hormone cortisol, affecting multiple bodily systems.

Accurate data on the mortality and specific causes of death in people with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome are lacking, said the study’s lead author, Padiporn Limumpornpetch, M.D., an endocrinologist from Prince of Songkla University, Thailand and Ph.D. student at the University of Leeds in Leeds, U.K. The study analyzed death data from more than 19,000 patients in 92 studies published through January 2021.

“Our results found that death rates have fallen since 2000 but are still unacceptably high,” Limumpornpetch said.

Cushing’s syndrome affects many parts of the body because cortisol responds to stress, maintains blood pressure and cardiovascular function, regulates blood sugar and keeps the immune system in check. The most common cause of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome is a tumor of the pituitary gland called Cushing’s disease, but another cause is a usually benign tumor of the adrenal glands called adrenal Cushing’s syndrome. All patients in this study had noncancerous tumors, according to Limumpornpetch.

Overall, the proportion of death from all study cohorts was 5 percent, the researchers reported. The standardized mortality ratio–the ratio of observed deaths in the study group to expected deaths in the general population matched by age and sex–was 3:1, indicating a threefold increase in deaths, she stated.

This mortality ratio was reportedly higher in patients with adrenal Cushing’s syndrome versus Cushing’s disease and in patients who had active disease versus those in remission. The standardized mortality ratio also was worse in patients with Cushing’s disease with larger tumors versus very small tumors (macroadenomas versus microadenomas).

On the positive side, mortality rates were lower after 2000 versus before then, which Limumpornpetch attributed to advances in diagnosis, operative techniques and medico-surgical care.

More than half of observed deaths were due to heart disease (24.7 percent), infections (14.4 percent), cerebrovascular diseases such as stroke or aneurysm (9.4 percent) or blood clots in a vein, known as thromboembolism (4.2 percent).

“The causes of death highlight the need for aggressive management of cardiovascular risk, prevention of thromboembolism and good infection control and emphasize the need to achieve disease remission, normalizing cortisol levels,” she said.

Surgery is the mainstay of initial treatment of Cushing’s syndrome. If an operation to remove the tumor fails to put the disease in remission, other treatments are available, such as medications.

Study co-author Victoria Nyaga, Ph.D., of the Belgian Cancer Centre in Brussels, Belgium, developed the Metapreg statistical analysis program used in this study.

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From https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/tes-lao031621.php

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Acute and life-threatening complications in Cushing syndrome: Prevalence, predictors and mortality

Posted on February 1, 2021 by MaryO

Researchers conducted this retrospective cohort study to investigate acute and life-threatening complications in patients with active Cushing syndrome (CS). Participants in the study were 242 patients with CS, including 213 with benign CS (pituitary n = 101, adrenal n = 99, ectopic n = 13), and 29 with malignant disease.

In patients with benign pituitary CS, the prevalence of acute complications was 62%, 40% in patients with benign adrenal CS, and 100% in patients with ectopic CS. Infections, thromboembolic events, hypokalemia, hypertensive crises, cardiac arrhythmias and acute coronary events were complications reported in patients with benign CS.

The whole spectrum of acute and life-threatening complications in CS and their high prevalence was illustrated in this study both before disease diagnosis and after successful surgery.

Read the full article on Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

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Study Shows Metyrapone Effective for Treating Rare Cushing’s Syndrome

Posted on September 12, 2020 by MaryO

The first ever prospective study to test the safety and efficacy of metyrapone in patients with Cushing’s Syndrome in a real-life setting has shown successful results.

HRA Pharma Rare Diseases SAS, of Paris, has presented data from PROMPT, the first ever prospective study designed to confirm metyrapone efficacy and good tolerance in patients with endogenous Cushing’s Syndrome, with results confirming that metyrapone controlled 80% of the patients at week 12 with either normalisation or at least 50% decrease of urinary free cortisol. These initial results are being published to coincide with HRA Pharma Rare Diseases’ participation in the e-ECE conference 2020.

Cushing’s Syndrome is a rare condition where patients have too much cortisol in their blood. Endogenous Cushing’s Syndrome is most often caused by hormone-releasing tumours of the adrenal or the pituitary glands. To manage this condition, controlling high cortisol levels in patients is important.

Successful results with metyrapone

Metyrapone is an inhibitor of the 11-beta-hydroxylase enzyme, which majorly contributes to cortisol synthesis and is approved in Europe for the treatment of endogenous Cushing’s Syndrome based on observational retrospective studies published over more than 50 years. As this prospective study took place over five years from April 2015 to April 2020, the longitudinal format reduced potential sources of bias and helped determine the risk factors of metyrapone when compared to the previous retrospective studies.

The first results of this study showed that at the end of the 12 weeks, metyrapone therapy is a rapid-onset, effective and safe medical treatment in patients living with the syndrome.

Evelina Paberze, COO of HRA Pharma Rare Diseases, said: “At HRA Pharma Rare Diseases, we are dedicated to building comprehensive evidence of our products. The first results of this prospective study clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of metyrapone in treating Cushing’s Syndrome.”

The next set of data on the six-month optional extension is awaiting confirmation and the full study with the final results will be published next year.

Frederique Welgryn, Managing Director of HRA Pharma Rare Diseases, added: “Cushing’s Syndrome is a chronic disease that can lead to deterioration in patients’ conditions if not treated appropriately. We are thrilled to announce that this first prospective study verifies that metyrapone is both an effective and safe way to treat endogenous Cushing’s Syndrome. This is a big step given the high unmet medical need for patients with endogenous Cushing’s Syndrome.”

From https://www.healtheuropa.eu/study-shows-metyrapone-effective-for-treating-rare-cushings-syndrome/102584/

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