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Human chorionic gonadotrophin secreting adrenocortical neoplasm presenting with peripheral precocious puberty in an infant

  • Fatma Dursun ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Zekeriya İlçe ORCID logo , İlkay Tosun ORCID logo , Pınar Atla ORCID logo , Sevinç Kalın ORCID logo , Fatma Tuğba Güvenç ORCID logo , Ülkü Miray Yıldırım ORCID logo and Heves Kırmızıbekmez ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: November 7, 2022

Abstract

Adrenocortical tumor (ACT) is a rare malignant tumor which usually present with Cushing syndrome and virilization. Paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS) due to neoplasms can occur with peptides or cytokines secreted by the tumor. Here, we report a 13-month-old-male presented with severe masculinization. He had signs of precocious puberty with enlarged testicles, very high testosterone levels but low levels of gonadotrophins, and elevated β-hCG. He underwent a left nephrectomy. The histopathological evaluation revealed a diagnosis of adrenocortical neoplasm. The levels of androgens and β-hCG normalized after the resection of tumor, and the clinical findings improved within few months. We report the first pediatric patient with peripheral precocious puberty due to an ACT that secretes β-hCG as PNS. A β-hCG secreting ACT can cause severe virilization due to increased gonadal androgens stimulated by β-hCG as well as due to increased adrenal androgens from the tumor.


Corresponding author: Fatma Dursun, Division of Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Health Sciences, Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, Elmalıkent mah. Ademyavuz cad. Number:1, Umraniye, Istanbul, Turkey, Phone: +905052671403, E-mail:

  1. Research funding: None declared.

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individuals included in this study.

  5. Ethical approval: Not applicable.

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Received: 2022-08-02
Revised: 2022-10-03
Accepted: 2022-10-17
Published Online: 2022-11-07
Published in Print: 2023-01-27

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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