Growth in children with adrenocortical tumors

Longitudinal growth was assessed in 10 children aged 0.8 to 11.8 years with adrenocortical tumors. All children had signs of androgen excess. In addition, 5 children had glucocorticoid excess, 1 child had estrogen excess. Multiple height recordings, expressed as height standard deviation score for chronological age, were available in 7 children. 5 patients in whom the tumor was successfully removed had postoperatively decreasing height standard deviation scores. 2 patients in whom tumor disease and hormone overproduction were not effectively controlled continued to show increased growth. When simultaneously present in one patient, the growth-promoting effects of androgen excess appear to override the growth-blocking properties of endogenous glucocorticoid excess. The importance of longitudinally recorded growth data for early diagnosis of an adrenocortical tumor is limited to those few children in whom hormone excess is given enough time to act on the skeleton before other tumor-related symptoms appear.