ABSTRACT
The authors studied 8 patients (4 males and 4 females) with Cushing's syndrome due to ectopic ACTH secretion. Chronological age ranged from 15 to 45 years and duration of the disease ranged from 3 to 48 months. All patients presented typical signs of Cushing's syndrome, blood hypertension, and four of them had hyperpigmentation of the skin. Five patients had fasting hyperglycemia and all patients but one had serum hypokalemia (serum K = 2.2 to 3.9mEq/l). The circadian rhythm of cortisol was absent in all patients and basal cortisol levels were elevated in all patients but one. Basal ACTH levels evaluated in 7 patients were elevated in 6 (29 to 1050 pg/ml-MRC). One patient presented normal depression of urinary 17-OH after two days of dexamethasone and normal increase of urinary 17-OH and serum 11-dexycortisol after methyrapone. Four patients had carcinoid tumor (3 thymic and 1 bronchial), two had pancreatic islets cell tumors, one had bilateral pheochromocytoma and medular carcinoma of the thyroid, and one had oat cell carcinoma of the lung and medular carcinoma of the thyroid. Thoracic X-rays identified the ectopic ACTH secretion tumor in four cases, all confirmed by CT scan. Abdominal CT showed a difuse enlargement of the adrenals in seven cases and bilateral nodules in one case (pheochromocytomas). Six patients died within 3 years of the diagnosis. The authors concluded that clinical and hormonal findings could mislead the findings of ACTH ectopic secretion and Cushing's disease, and suggest that thoracic X-rays and CT scans of the skull, thorax, and abdome should be done in all cases of Cushing's syndrome.
