How early can one diagnose Cushing’s disease? An early diagnosis in a case of prepubertal Cushing’s disease
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Julia Hoppmann
Abstract
Background: Cushing’s disease is very rare in children, and the diagnosis is frequently delayed by several years.
Objective: We report a case of prepubertal Cushing’s disease with a medical history of only 9 months. This case illustrates the difficulties involved in diagnosing children at the early stage of the disease.
Case presentation: An 8-year-old prepubertal boy presented with rapid weight gain accompanied by a decreasing growth velocity and hirsutism. Thyroid function tests and growth factor levels were normal, thus excluding hypothyroidism and growth hormone deficiency. Cushing’s syndrome was confirmed by elevated 24-h urinary free cortisol levels, increased diurnal cortisol levels, and a lack of cortisol suppression in the low-dose dexamethasone suppression test. Further tests to investigate the source of the hypercortisolism showed the following results: Basal morning adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was normal. The high-dose dexamethasone suppression test led to a 51% decrease in cortisol level. In the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) test, ACTH and cortisol increased only by 28%. Repeated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) finally revealed a microadenoma in the anterior pituitary, thus establishng the diagnosis of Cushing’s disease. Upon diagnosis, the patient underwent transsphenoidal surgery. Histological analysis confirmed an ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma.
Conclusion: This case illustrates the difficulties associated with the clinical, biochemical, and radiological diagnoses of Cushing’s disease in children. Early diagnosis remains a challenge because test results often do not match standard diagnostic criteria.
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©2014 by De Gruyter
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Highlight: Cushing syndrome
- Fundamental principles of clinical and biochemical evaluation underlie the diagnosis and therapy of Cushing’s syndrome
- Cushing syndrome secondary to CRH-producing Wilms tumor in a 6 year old
- Cushing’s disease presenting as cholestatic hepatitis
- How early can one diagnose Cushing’s disease? An early diagnosis in a case of prepubertal Cushing’s disease
- Review article
- Subclinical hypothyroidism in childhood and adolescense
- Original articles
- Energy substrate metabolism in pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency
- Chromosome 6q24 transient neonatal diabetes mellitus and protein sensitive hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia
- Measures of pituitary gland and stalk: from neonate to adolescence
- Are preterm newborns who have relative hyperthyrotropinemia at increased risk of brain damage?
- Pseudohypoparathyroidism vs. tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome: patient reclassification
- Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with race/ethnicity and constitutive skin color in urban schoolchildren
- A nonsense thyrotropin receptor gene mutation (R609X) is associated with congenital hypothyroidism and heart defects
- Acanthosis nigricans, vitamin D, and insulin resistance in obese children and adolescents
- Clinical characteristics and chromosome 11p15 imprinting analysis of Silver-Russell syndrome – a Chinese experience
- Change in reference body mass index percentiles and deviation in overweight and obesity over 3 years in Turkish children and adolescents
- Long-term outcomes of pediatric Graves’ disease
- Accessibility of the reference center as a protective factor against ketoacidosis at the onset of diabetes in children
- Vitamin D, parathormone, and insulin resistance in children born large for gestational age
- Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in apparently healthy children in north India
- Prevalence of autoantibodies in type 1 diabetes patients and its association with the clinical presentation – UAE Eastern Region experience
- Clinical and molecular studies related to bone metabolism in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Islet neogenesis-associated protein-related pentadecapeptide improves the function of allograft after islets transplantation
- Anti-Mullerian hormone may be a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome in nonobese adolescents
- Early infant feeding practice and childhood obesity: the relation of breast-feeding and timing of solid food introduction with childhood obesity
- Late onset X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita with hypogonadotropic hypgonadism due to a novel 4-bp deletion in exon 2 of NR0B1
- The correlation between GnRH stimulation testing and obstetric ultrasonographic parameters in precocious puberty
- The DATAC study: a new growth database. Description of the epidemiology, diagnosis and therapeutic attitude in a group of Spanish children with short stature
- Concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-α and its soluble receptors in the serum of teenagers with atherosclerosis risk factors: obesity or obesity combined with hypertension
- Are HDL levels lower in children with type 1 diabetes and concurrent celiac disease compared with children with type 1 diabetes only?
- Patient reports
- Hereditary vitamin D rickets: a case series in a family
- Two heterozygous mutations of the AMH gene in a Japanese patient with persistent Müllerian duct syndrome
- Two case reports of severe pediatric hyperosmolar hyperglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis accompanied with rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure
- Acquired hypothyroidism due to iodine deficiency in an American child
- Continuous subcutaneous IGF-1 therapy via insulin pump in a patient with Donohue syndrome
- Amylase/creatinine clearance ratio in diabetic ketoacidosis: a case report
- Worsening hypertriglyceridemia with oral contraceptive pills in an adolescent with HIV-associated lipodystrophy: a case report and review of the literature
- Congenital hyperinsulinism in a newborn with a novel homozygous mutation (p.Q392H) in the ABCC8 gene
- Short communications
- Polyglandular autoimmune syndrome type I – a novel AIRE mutation in a North American patient
- Post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus and diabetes insipidus in preterm infants
- Two novel mutations in acid α-glucosidase gene in two patients with Pompe disease
- Letter to the Editor
- And what about septin 9 (SEPT9) as a binding partner of survivin in heart regeneration?
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Highlight: Cushing syndrome
- Fundamental principles of clinical and biochemical evaluation underlie the diagnosis and therapy of Cushing’s syndrome
- Cushing syndrome secondary to CRH-producing Wilms tumor in a 6 year old
- Cushing’s disease presenting as cholestatic hepatitis
- How early can one diagnose Cushing’s disease? An early diagnosis in a case of prepubertal Cushing’s disease
- Review article
- Subclinical hypothyroidism in childhood and adolescense
- Original articles
- Energy substrate metabolism in pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency
- Chromosome 6q24 transient neonatal diabetes mellitus and protein sensitive hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia
- Measures of pituitary gland and stalk: from neonate to adolescence
- Are preterm newborns who have relative hyperthyrotropinemia at increased risk of brain damage?
- Pseudohypoparathyroidism vs. tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome: patient reclassification
- Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with race/ethnicity and constitutive skin color in urban schoolchildren
- A nonsense thyrotropin receptor gene mutation (R609X) is associated with congenital hypothyroidism and heart defects
- Acanthosis nigricans, vitamin D, and insulin resistance in obese children and adolescents
- Clinical characteristics and chromosome 11p15 imprinting analysis of Silver-Russell syndrome – a Chinese experience
- Change in reference body mass index percentiles and deviation in overweight and obesity over 3 years in Turkish children and adolescents
- Long-term outcomes of pediatric Graves’ disease
- Accessibility of the reference center as a protective factor against ketoacidosis at the onset of diabetes in children
- Vitamin D, parathormone, and insulin resistance in children born large for gestational age
- Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in apparently healthy children in north India
- Prevalence of autoantibodies in type 1 diabetes patients and its association with the clinical presentation – UAE Eastern Region experience
- Clinical and molecular studies related to bone metabolism in patients with congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Islet neogenesis-associated protein-related pentadecapeptide improves the function of allograft after islets transplantation
- Anti-Mullerian hormone may be a useful adjunct in the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome in nonobese adolescents
- Early infant feeding practice and childhood obesity: the relation of breast-feeding and timing of solid food introduction with childhood obesity
- Late onset X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita with hypogonadotropic hypgonadism due to a novel 4-bp deletion in exon 2 of NR0B1
- The correlation between GnRH stimulation testing and obstetric ultrasonographic parameters in precocious puberty
- The DATAC study: a new growth database. Description of the epidemiology, diagnosis and therapeutic attitude in a group of Spanish children with short stature
- Concentrations of tumour necrosis factor-α and its soluble receptors in the serum of teenagers with atherosclerosis risk factors: obesity or obesity combined with hypertension
- Are HDL levels lower in children with type 1 diabetes and concurrent celiac disease compared with children with type 1 diabetes only?
- Patient reports
- Hereditary vitamin D rickets: a case series in a family
- Two heterozygous mutations of the AMH gene in a Japanese patient with persistent Müllerian duct syndrome
- Two case reports of severe pediatric hyperosmolar hyperglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis accompanied with rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure
- Acquired hypothyroidism due to iodine deficiency in an American child
- Continuous subcutaneous IGF-1 therapy via insulin pump in a patient with Donohue syndrome
- Amylase/creatinine clearance ratio in diabetic ketoacidosis: a case report
- Worsening hypertriglyceridemia with oral contraceptive pills in an adolescent with HIV-associated lipodystrophy: a case report and review of the literature
- Congenital hyperinsulinism in a newborn with a novel homozygous mutation (p.Q392H) in the ABCC8 gene
- Short communications
- Polyglandular autoimmune syndrome type I – a novel AIRE mutation in a North American patient
- Post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus and diabetes insipidus in preterm infants
- Two novel mutations in acid α-glucosidase gene in two patients with Pompe disease
- Letter to the Editor
- And what about septin 9 (SEPT9) as a binding partner of survivin in heart regeneration?
