Incidence of pituitary tumors following adrenalectomy. A long-term follow-up study of patients treated for Cushing's disease

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The long-term follow-up of 21 patients who underwent bilateral adrenalectomy for Cushing''s disease revealed 8 definite and 2 suspected cases of pituitary tumors. The average time from adrenalectomy to the diagnosis of the pituitary tumor was 6 1/2 yr, with a range of 1 1/2 to 12 yr. The incidence of tumors in this study (38%) is higher than that reported by others and may reflect that none of these patients received pituitary irradiation in addition to adrenalectomy, the length of follow-up and high index of suspicion and early diagnosis of pituitary tumors in recent years. These data raise the question of whether bilateral adrenalectomy alone is an acceptable form of therapy for Cushing''s disease. For patients treated in this way, a life-long commitment should be made to undergo annual re-examination for the possible occurrence of a pituitary neoplasm.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: