A 23-year-old woman was referred to our center with hirsutism, acne, weight gain, weakness, and irregular menses. Laboratory tests revealed increased levels of cortisol and sex hormones, and reduced adrenocorticotropic hormone levels. The patient underwent a right adrenalectomy. Pathology of the resected right adrenal gland showed an adrenal carcinoma. Computed tomography 8 months after the surgery revealed a thymic mass that was not detected preoperatively. The frequency of rebound thymic hyperplasia after normalization of hypercortisolism is not known, but possibly as high as 40%. Physicians must be aware of this phenomenon to avoid unnecessary thoracic surgery.
Appearance of a thymic mass after treatment of Cushing's syndrome / Delitala, Alessandro P.; Olita, Laura; Piras, Carla; Cosseddu, Rossella; Bagella, Giorgio; Fanciulli, Giuseppe. - In: ASIAN CARDIOVASCULAR AND THORACIC ANNALS. - ISSN 0218-4923. - 25:2(2017), pp. 150-153. [10.1177/0218492316686480]
Appearance of a thymic mass after treatment of Cushing's syndrome
Delitala, Alessandro P.
;Fanciulli, Giuseppe
2017-01-01
Abstract
A 23-year-old woman was referred to our center with hirsutism, acne, weight gain, weakness, and irregular menses. Laboratory tests revealed increased levels of cortisol and sex hormones, and reduced adrenocorticotropic hormone levels. The patient underwent a right adrenalectomy. Pathology of the resected right adrenal gland showed an adrenal carcinoma. Computed tomography 8 months after the surgery revealed a thymic mass that was not detected preoperatively. The frequency of rebound thymic hyperplasia after normalization of hypercortisolism is not known, but possibly as high as 40%. Physicians must be aware of this phenomenon to avoid unnecessary thoracic surgery.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
