Cushing's syndrome; report of a case in an infant twelve weeks old.

Abstract

CUSHING'S syndrome is rather rare in infants.* In 1949 Chute, Robinson, and Donohue collected from the literature 32 cases of Cushing's syndrome in children and added 1 case of their own. 1 Because of differences of opinion about the criteria of Cushing's syndrome, some cases have been recorded under other titles. For instance, in 1940 Marks, Thomas, and Warkany collected a series of cases of adrenocortical obesity in children, some of which apparently were examples of Cushing's syndrome. 8 Cushing's disease is the term that has been suggested for the cases in which the classical clinical features described by Cushing are associated with a basophilic adenoma of the pituitary. 6 The name Cushing's syndrome is applied in those cases where causes other than basophilic adenoma are found. It is now generally accepted that the syndrome is usually associated with an adrenal cortical tumor or hyperfunction of the adrenal cortex. 6