Vanda Pinto, PhD, science writer —

A 70-year-old woman with ectopic Cushing’s syndrome was successfully treated for COVID-19 with intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg) — a therapy prepared from the blood of thousands of healthy donors that contains a mixture of antibodies — according to a case report. Given the lack of guidelines for the management of…

Removing a pituitary tumor through the nostrils with an endoscope led to shorter recovery times for patients with Cushing’s disease than for those who had the surgery through the traditional microscopic approach, a study reports. However, similar remission, recurrence, and complication rates were found between patients, regardless of the…

A minimally invasive chest surgery using a single-incision subxiphoid approach was used to effectively remove a tumor in the thymus of a 29-year-old woman with ectopic Cushing’s syndrome, as described in a recent case report. The muscle-sparing incision causes less trauma and potentially could reduce post-surgical pain and shorten recovery…

A bilateral adrenalectomy — a surgery to remove both adrenal glands — to lower cortisol levels in patients with Cushing’s syndrome was associated with more severe post-surgery complications and a higher mortality rate, compared with unilateral adrenalectomy, a study has found. “If indicated, bilateral adrenalectomy is a feasible option for…

Patients with Cushing’s syndrome are almost two times more likely to develop sleep apnea — a condition in which a person ceases to breathe for at least 10 seconds while sleeping — than the general population, according to a U.S. database study. These findings highlight the importance of screening for…

Hyperglycemia, or high concentrations of sugar in the blood, can be brought to normal levels, or considerably reduced, in almost 70% of people with both Cushing’s syndrome and hyperglycemia following curative surgery or radiation therapy, a study has found. The report highlighted the need for close monitoring and adjusting medications…

Xeris Biopharma’s newly approved therapy Recorlev (levoketoconazole) is now available to patients in the U.S. through the specialty pharmacy PANTHERx Rare, the company announced in a press release. The therapy is prescribed for adults with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome for whom surgery is not possible or not effective. “The commercial…

A mediastinal paraganglioma, an extremely rare tumor located between the lungs, was found to be the cause of Cushing’s syndrome in a 40-year-old Chinese policeman, according to a recent case report. Doctors were particularly challenged by this case because the patient also had a pituitary tumor, which could have been…

Early diagnosis and treatment of Cushing’s disease could help prevent or diminish mental health crises, a recent report suggests. In the rare case study, a woman with a history of suicidal depression was found to have Cushing’s disease caused by a pituitary tumor in her brain. Her symptoms eased…

Blood tests should be performed before imaging examinations when Cushing’s syndrome is suspected, to prevent misdiagnosis, a recent case report study suggests. The report described the case of a 24-year-old woman with elevated cortisol levels and a pituitary tumor, in which an imaging test misled doctors into believing she had…