[Adrenal adenoma disclosing after delivery]

Pregnancy and Cushing's syndrome are seldom found together (40 cases in the literature), since hyperadrenocorticism is often responsible for anovulation by gonadotropin suppression. We report the case of a 25-year old para II woman whose pregnancy was complicated by diabetes and arterial hypertension at 31 weeks and who received the conventional treatments (special diet, insulin therapy, pindolol). Caesarean section, motivated by premature rupture of the membranes, was performed at 37 weeks, delivering a healthy infant. The diagnosis of hypercortisolism with low ACTH level was made post partum. An adrenal tumour (the most frequent cause of Cushing's syndrome occurring during pregnancy) was removed after pre-operative treatment with ketoconazole, and endocrine functions returned to normal.