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Long Term Post Operative Follow-Up of Cushing Syndrome

NCT00029952 · Status: COMPLETED · Type: OBSERVATIONAL · Enrollment: 500

Last updated 2008-03-04

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Although most patients with hypercortisolism can be diagnosed and treated the long-term effects of hypercortisolism and its treatment are unknown. This study will attempt to answer the following questions:

1. What is the rate of perioperative complications? Patients with Cushing syndrome often undergo transsphenoidal surgery of the pituitary gland as treatment for the disease. During this surgical procedure the pituitary gland is reached by passing through the sphenoid bone. The risk for patients to develop hypopituitarism in the immediate postoperative period is unknown. Patients with Cushing syndrome have abnormal levels of hormones circulating in the blood and affects of the surgery are often not apparent until long after the procedure.
2. What is the recurrence rate? The recurrence rate of the disease has been estimated between 5 - 10%. However, these figures have not been confirmed. If the actual rate of recurrence is higher than estimated many patients may elect to undergo radiation therapy which has a lower rate of recurrence.
3. Do any factors in the immediate postoperative period predict who will experience a recurrence of Cushing syndrome?
4. What are the long-term complications of hypercortisolism? Studies have shown that patients with hypercortisolism have a four times greater risk of death than people of the same age without hypercortisolism. Researchers tend to believe this figure is too high. However, it is well established that hypercortisolism weakens bones (decreased bone density), causes secondary hypogonadism, increases levels of fat in the blood (hyperlipidemia), and decreases thyroid function (hypothyroidism). The potential for these conditions to be reversed is not known.

These questions will be addressed by blood and urine sampling in the postoperative period, and by outpatient follow-up and periodic questionnaires in the first 10 years after curative surgery for Cushing syndrome performed at the NIH.

Conditions

  • Cushing Syndrome

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

    lead NIH

Eligibility

Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
1993-07-31
Completion
2004-09-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT00029952 on ClinicalTrials.gov