Recurrence appears to be more frequent and earlier after TSS in patients with USP8 mutant corticotroph tumours.

Context Signs and symptoms of Cushing’s syndrome (CS) overlap with common diseases, such as the metabolic syndrome, obesity, osteoporosis, and depression. Therefore, it can take years to finally diagnose CS, although early diagnosis is important for prevention of complications. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the time span between first symptoms and diagnosis of CS in different populations to identify factors associated with an early diagnosis. Data Sources A systematic literature search via PubMed was performed to identify studies reporting on time to diagnosis in CS. In addition, unpublished data from patients of our tertiary care center and 4 other centers were included. Study Selection Clinical studies reporting on the time to diagnosis of CS were eligible. Corresponding authors were contacted to obtain additional information relevant to the research question. Data Extraction Data were extracted from the text of the retrieved articles and from additional information provided by authors contacted successfully. From initially 3326 screened studies 44 were included. Data Synthesis Mean time to diagnosis for patients with CS was 34 months (ectopic CS: 14 months; adrenal CS: 30 months; and pituitary CS: 38 months; P < .001). No difference was found for gender, age (<18 and ≥18 years), and year of diagnosis (before and after 2000). Patients with pituitary CS had a longer time to diagnosis in Germany than elsewhere. Conclusions Time to diagnosis differs for subtypes of CS but not for gender and age. Time to diagnosis remains to be long and requires to be improved.

Background/Aims: The current diagnostic workup of Cushing’s syndrome (CS) requires various tests which only capture short-term cortisol exposure, whereas patients with endogenous CS generally have elevated cortisol levels over longer periods of time. Scalp hair assessment has emerged as a convenient test in capturing glucocorticoid concentrations over long periods of time. The aim of this multicenter, multinational, prospective, case-control study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of scalp hair glucocorticoids in screening of endogenous CS. Methods: We assessed the diagnostic performances of hair cortisol (HairF), hair cortisone (HairE), and the sum of both (sumHairF+E), as measured by a state-of-the-art LC-MS/MS technique, in untreated patients with confirmed endogenous CS (n = 89) as well as in community controls (n = 295) from the population-based Lifelines cohort study. Results: Both glucocorticoids were significantly elevated in CS patients when compared to controls. A high diagnostic efficacy was found for HairF (area under the curve 0.87 [95% CI: 0.83–0.92]), HairE (0.93 [0.89–0.96]), and sumHairF+E (0.92 [0.88–0.96]) (all p < 0.001). The participants were accurately classified at the optimal cutoff threshold in 86% of the cases (81% sensitivity, 88% specificity, and 94% negative predictive value [NPV]) by HairF, in 90% of the cases (87% sensitivity, 90% specificity, and 96% NPV) by HairE, and in 87% of the cases (86% sensitivity, 88% specificity, and 95% NPV) by the sumHairF+E. HairE was shown to be the most accurate in differentiating CS patients from controls. Conclusion: Scalp hair glucocorticoids, especially hair cortisone, can be seen as a promising biomarker in screening for CS. Its convenience in collection and workup additionally makes it feasible for first-line screening.

PMT may confound the interpretation of immediate postoperative outcome. Follow-up is recommended to definitely evaluate surgical results.

Context Glucocorticoid-induced myopathy is a characteristic symptom of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome. Its long-term outcome is largely unknown Objective To evaluate long-term muscle function following remission of endogenous Cushing’s syndrome Study design Observational longitudinal cohort study Setting Tertiary care hospitals and specialized outpatient clinic Patients As part of the prospective multicenter German Cushing’s Registry we assessed muscle strength in patients with overt endogenous Cushing’s syndrome. We studied the patients at the time of diagnosis (n=88), after 6 months (n=69) and thereafter annually following surgical remission over a period of up to four years (1 year: n=55; 2 years: n=34; 3 years: n=29; 4 years: n=22). Muscle function was evaluated by hand grip strength and by chair rising test Results Grip strength was decreased to 83 % of normal controls (100 %) at time of diagnosis. It further decreased to 71 % after 6 months in remission (p≤0.001) and showed no improvement during further follow-up compared to baseline. Chair rising test performance improved initially (8 seconds at baseline vs 7 seconds after 6 months, p=0.004) but remained at this reduced level thereafter (7 seconds after 3 years vs 5 seconds in controls, p=0.038). In multivariate analysis we identified as predictors for long-term muscle dysfunction age, waist-to-hip-ratio and HbA1c at baseline. Furthermore, muscle strength during follow-up was strongly correlated with quality of life Conclusion This study shows that Cushing’s syndrome associated myopathy does not spontaneously resolve during remission. This calls for action to identify effective interventions to improve muscle dysfunction in this setting

CONTEXT Unilateral adrenalectomy has been proposed in selected patients with primary bilateral macronodular adrenocortical hyperplasia (PBMAH), but its long-term outcome is unclear. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to analyze long-term clinical and biochemical outcome of unilateral adrenalectomy versus bilateral adrenalectomy in patients with PBMAH in comparison to outcome of cortisol-producing adenoma (CPA) treated by unilateral adrenalectomy. DESIGN Retrospective observational study in three German and one Italian academic tertiary care center. PATIENTS AND METHODS 25 PBMAH patients after unilateral adrenalectomy (unilat-ADX-PBMAH), 9 patients with PBMAH and bilateral adrenalectomy (bilat-ADX-PBMAH) and 39 patients with CPA and unilateral adrenalectomy (unilat-ADX-CPA) were included. RESULTS Baseline clinical and biochemical parameters were comparable in unilat-ADX-PBMAH, bilat-ADX-PBMAH and unilat-ADX-CPA. Directly after surgery, 84% of the unilat-ADX-PBMAH patients experienced initial remission of Cushing's syndrome. In contrast, at last follow-up (median 50 months) 32% of the unilat-ADX-PBMAH patients were biochemically controlled compared to nearly all patients in the other two groups (p=0.000). Adrenalectomy of the contralateral side had to be performed in 12% of the initially unilat-ADX-PBMAH patients. 3 of 20 unilat-ADX-PBMAH patients (15%) died during follow-up presumably of Cushing's syndrome related causes whereas no deaths occurred in the other two groups (p=0.008). Deaths occurred exclusively in patients who were not biochemically controlled after unilateral ADX. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that unilateral adrenalectomy of PBMAH patients leads to clinical remission and a lower incidence of adrenal crisis, but less sufficient biochemical control of hypercortisolism potentially provoking a higher mortality.

Purpose Recurrence after pituitary surgery in Cushing’s disease (CD) is a common problem ranging from 5% (minimum) to 50% (maximum) after initially successful surgery, respectively. In this review, we give an overview of the current literature regarding prevalence, diagnosis, and therapeutic options of recurrent CD. Methods We systematically screened the literature regarding recurrent and persistent Cushing’s disease using the MESH term Cushing’s disease and recurrence. Of 717 results in PubMed, all manuscripts in English and German published between 1980 and April 2020 were screened. Case reports, comments, publications focusing on pediatric CD or CD in veterinary disciplines or studies with very small sample size (patient number < 10) were excluded. Also, papers on CD in pregnancy were not included in this review. Results and conclusions Because of the high incidence of recurrence in CD, annual clinical and biochemical follow-up is paramount. 50% of recurrences occur during the first 50 months after first surgery. In case of recurrence, treatment options include second surgery, pituitary radiation, targeted medical therapy to control hypercortisolism, and bilateral adrenalectomy. Success rates of all these treatment options vary between 25 (some of the medical therapy) and 100% (bilateral adrenalectomy). All treatment options have specific advantages, limitations, and side effects. Therefore, treatment decisions have to be individualized according to the specific needs of the patient.

Context Diagnosis of subclinical adrenal hypercortisolism is based on several tests of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to establish mild alterations of cortisol secretion and dysregulated cortisol physiology. Objective We assessed whether plasma steroid profiles might assist diagnosis of subclinical Cushing syndrome (SC). Design Retrospective cross-sectional study. Setting Two tertiary medical centers. Patients Of 208 patients tested for hypercortisolism, disease was excluded in 152 and confirmed in 21 with overt adrenal Cushing syndrome (AC) compared to 35 with SC. Another 277 age- and sex-matched hypertensive and normotensive volunteers were included for reference. Main Outcome Measures A panel of 15 plasma steroids was measured by mass spectrometry, with classification by discriminant analysis. Results Patients with SC had lower plasma concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate than subjects without SC (P < 0.05). The largest increases (P < 0.001) in plasma steroids among patients with SC were observed for 11-deoxycortisol and 11-deoxycorticosterone. Nevertheless, concentrations of 11-deoxycorticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, and pregnenolone in patients with AC were higher (P < 0.05) than in those with SC. Patients with SC or AC could be distinguished from subjects without disease using this combination of steroids as precisely as with use of measurements of serum cortisol after administration of dexamethasone. The steroid combination provided superior diagnostic performance compared with each of the other routine biochemical tests. Conclusion Distinct plasma steroid profiles in patients with SC may provide a simple and reliable screening method for establishing the diagnosis.