PITUITARY DEPENDENT CUSHING\'S SYNDROME IN IRAN

During a 5-year experience with 32 adrenal tumors with different basic problems in the Department of Endocrinology , Taleghani Hospital, 25 were found pituitary dependent Cushing's syndrome, "Cushing's disease." The treatment of patients with Cushing's disease depends on the presence or absence of pituitary tumor. Ifno pituitary tumor is demonstrated, irradiation can be given to the pituitary gland and if a pituitary tumor is present, hypophysectomy is the treatment of choice. If pituitary ablation fails to relieve the symptoms of Cushing's syndrome, bilateral adrenalectomy is usually performed through the posterior approach. With regard to the poor results of radiation and hypophysectomy in Iran, these patients were referred directly for bilateral adrenalectomy to the Department of Surgery, Taleghani Hospital. The disease was predominatly seen in the young age group, females were more frequently affected than males and the common manifestation of hyperadrenocorticism were obesity, plethora, amenorrhea, and hirsutism. The diagnosis was made by a series of laboratory, roentgenographic, and C. T. scan studies. The surgical ablation of the target organs was usually performed by the posterior approach, and the pathologic results of operated patients were nodular hyperplasia and diffuse hyperplasia.