THE ENDOCRINE DISORDERS ASSOCIATED WITH CUSHING'S SYNDROME AND VIRILISM

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
THE nature of the pathological disturbances which are responsible for Cushing's syndrome and virilism is controversial. It therefore seems justifiable to report an unusual case in the hope that it may throw further light on this difficult question. Case Report An unmarried woman, age 38, was admitted to the London Hospital under the Medical Unit (Professor Arthur Ellis) on March 11, 1938. She had had a previous illness in the autumn of 1932. This commenced with amenorrhea and in the course of about three months she became grossly obese. Her mother subsequently volunteered that it was remarkable that her limbs had remained thin. Her face became dark red and she grew a moustache and beard. Broad lines appeared on her abdomen which she remembered particularly on account of their purple coloration, and she developed many bruises on her arms and legs without any apparent cause. She also had crops of “pimples” on her face, back and chest. During this illness she visited her panel doctor, Dr. Perchman, who subsequently wrote: “She was then very obese looking with marked double chin, hypertrichosis, dusky skin, but not very fat in the limbs. B.P. 140/100, no sugar in urine. She seemed to me to be a case of Cushing's pituitary-adrenal syndrome.”