Cushing's Syndrome in a Morbidly Obese Patient Undergoing Evaluation before Bariatric Surgery

OBJECTIVE Cushing's syndrome (CS) is extremely rare in morbidly obese patients. To date, no occurrences in obese patients with BMI above 60 kg/m2 have been reported in the literature. CASE REPORT This case report describes a patient who was admitted to the ward of the Clinical Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the Medical University of Vienna in preparation for bariatric surgery. The patient was a 49-year-old female who showed morbid obesity (BMI 61.6 kg/m2), hypertension, and substituted hypothyroidism. Preoperative work-up revealed CS due to an adrenal adenoma. Therefore, the patient underwent unilateral adrenalectomy followed by bariatric surgery 6 months later. CONCLUSION Since undiagnosed CS might result in severe perioperative complications in a population already at increased risk, this case report underlines the importance of careful endocrine evaluation of morbidly obese patients. After all, even rare endocrine causes should be excluded.