Cushing syndrome in pregnancy, diagnosed after delivery

Abstract

Cushing syndrome (CS) is rare in pregnancy, and few cases have been reported to date. Women with untreated CS rarely become pregnant because of the ovulatory dysfunction induced by hypercortisolism. It is difficult to diagnose CS in pregnancy because of its very low incidence, the overlap between the clinical signs of hypercortisolism and the physiological changes that occur during pregnancy and the changes in hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis activity that occur during pregnancy and limit the value of standard diagnostic testing. However, CS in pregnancy is associated with poor maternal and fetal outcomes; therefore, its early diagnosis and treatment are important. Here, we report two patients with CS that was not diagnosed during pregnancy, in whom maternal and fetal morbidity developed because of hypercortisolism.