[Recurrence of Cushing's disease in a child after transsphenoidal excision of a pituitary adenoma: hypothalamic change?]

A case of Cushing disease in a 5 4/12 year-old boy is reported. After adenomectomy was performed, he was considered as "cured" but he relapsed after nineteen months. In a second transsphenoidal surgery a 2 X 3 mm piece of pituitary tissue with adenomatous aspect, was removed. It was histologically constituted by normal pituitary cells and Crooke cells. As the patient was in a cortisol-deficient state a remission was established. Nowadays, since the cortisol response to hypoglycemia was positive, we are paying attention to the risk of relapse. We discuss the possibility of a hypothalamic lesion as the cause and different therapeutic strategies in order to be more selective.