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People with Cushing’s syndrome who are immunosuppressed due to high cortisol levels, or hypercortisolism, may be at risk for rare asymptomatic infections, according to a recent case report. A man diagnosed with Cushing’s syndrome tested positive for the Rhodococcus bacteria, but he didn’t have any symptoms of an infection…

In recent years, fewer people are presenting with classic features of Cushing’s disease, such as moon face and purple stretch marks, according to a three-decade analysis of disease management. Patients diagnosed more recently are also older, and they have lower levels of cortisol and smaller pituitary tumors than those…

Transsphenoidal surgery, a minimally invasive procedure to remove pituitary tumors through the nose, achieved long-term remission in nearly all children with Cushing’s disease who participated in a single-center study in China. “While recurrence occurred in a minority of patients, primarily those with [small tumors], durable disease control is attainable for…

About half of people with Cushing’s disease have abnormalities in their adrenal glands, the small organs above the kidneys that make cortisol, a new study from Israel has found. Further, small growths in the adrenal tissue — called adrenal nodules — occurred about 10 times more often in these…

The noncancerous pituitary gland tumors that cause Cushing’s disease can rarely become cancerous, leading to rapidly progressing disease, a recent case report highlighted. Scientists reported on two middle-aged women with Cushing’s who underwent surgery and radiation therapy for their pituitary tumors. The tumors eventually recurred and spread, showing signs…

Care practices at a hospital in Taiwan align with those recommended by the Pituitary Society for patients with pituitary tumors, including those causing Cushing’s disease, a study found. The study found that practices at Taipei Veterans General Hospital fostered successful surgical interventions, a low risk of death, and a…

Unrestricted access to glucocorticoids, such as dexamethasone, and self-administration without prescription can lead to Cushing’s syndrome, a case series from Yemen showed. “The education of physicians, pharmacists, and patients is necessary to avoid this problem,” the researcher who conducted the study wrote. “Physicians should keep this in mind and question…

Children with Cushing’s disease whose pituitary tumors carry USP8 gene mutations tend to have larger, more invasive tumors and face a higher risk of persistent or recurrent disease after surgery, a study reports. While inherited mutations do not cause most pediatric cases, non-inherited mutations appear to influence tumor size…

The case of a 70-year-old U.S. man with ectopic Cushing’s syndrome caused by an unusual type of nasal tumor, called an olfactory neuroblastoma, was described in a report that, according to its author, “demonstrates the necessity of collaboration among endocrinology, otolaryngology, neurosurgery, radiology, and oncology teams in managing rare ACTH-secreting…

A positron emission tomography (PET)-based imaging technique is comparable to standard MRI in its ability to find small pituitary gland tumors related to Cushing’s disease, a study reports. While both techniques correctly identified the location of the tumors, called small pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs), for most study participants, neither…