Prognostic markers of remission of cushing's disease after transsphenoidal endoscopic adenomektomii.

Abstract

Aim. To study the role of prognostic oral high-dose dexamethasone suppression test (HDDST) and pituitary MRI in the prognosis of Cushing’s disease (CD). remission after transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery (TSS). Material and methods. 59 patients with Cushing’s disease (9 men, 50 women, mean age 40 years (15-72) underwent TSS were included. Before the TSS HDDST and pituitary MRI were performed in all cases. Postoperative examination was done one year after surgery. Remission criteria were: combination of normal midnight serum cortisol levels, normal 24 hour urine free cortisol (UFC) excretion and serum cortisol suppression less than 50 nmol/l in 1-mg dexamethasone test or secondary adrenal insufficiency (the need for glucocorticoid replacement). The optimal threshold value of serum cortisol suppression in the HDDST for prediction of CD remission after TSS was calculated by ROC-analysis. Results. One year after surgery CD remission was confirmed in 39 patients, whereas in 20 patients hypercortisolism persisted. The optimal threshold value of serum cortisol suppression in the HDDST for prediction of CD remission after TSS was 72%. Test’s sensitivity and specificity were 82% and 84%, respectively. The probability of wrong prediction was 17% (p=0,0001). In our study, the results of TSS did not correlate with MRI adenoma size.