PITUITARY MACROADENOMA AND CUSHINGS-DISEASE IN PEDIATRIC-PATIENTS - PATIENT REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Cushing's syndrome in pediatric patients has been rarely reported and most of the cases are due to adrenal tumors, When the etiology is an A CTH-secreting pituitary adenoma, most often it is a microadenoma, We r eport on a 9 year-old girl with an ACTH-secreting macroadenoma, whose surgical removal through transsphenoidal approach was extremely diffic ult due to invasion of the cavernous sinus as well as adjacent structu res, After two surgical approaches and stereotactic radiotherapy, she still suffers from the deleterious effects of hypercortisolism, especi ally marked osteoporosis with vertebral collapse, which interferes wit h her walking and causes excruciating pain. Two months after the radio therapy, we still had doubts about the prognosis regarding the persist ence of the hypercortisolism. From six months on, her general health s tarted improving, she lost weight, the backache disappeared and her co rtisol level returned to normal.