Pregnancy-induced Cushing's Syndrome: A Case Report

Cushing's syndrome(CS)during pregnancy is a rare condition with fewer than 150 cases reported in the literature.Adrenal adenomas were found to be the commonest cause.The other causes include tumors in hypothalamus and pituitary. Ectopic ACTH secretion has been reported to cause CS.There is a very rare condition.Cushing's syndrome develops in pregnancy and resolving after delivery.The mechanisms underlying these conditions are poorly understood.There are non-significant differences in the clinical features of pregnant and non-pregnant women with CS.The gestation dramatically affects the maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis,The normal gestational changes in the HPA axis alter these parameters and complicate the screening process for CS.Comparing with non-pregnant women with CS,the treatment is different in Cushing's syndrome during pregnancy.We described here the case of a 25-year-old woman with CS during her forth pregnancy.Hypertension,diabetes,hypopotassaemia,purple striae and acne are present.Cushing's syndrome in the patient resolved within four weeks of artificial termination.Eight months after artificial termination,the patient became pregnant again and rapidly developed Cushing's syndrome with typical clinical symptoms and signs and laboratory results.