[Morphologic changes in the adrenal cortex in Itsenko-Cushing's syndrome]

Abstract

Having studied the results of investigation of 132 patients with Icenko-Cushing syndrome (68 out of them with different structural variants of adrenal tumours, 68--without adrenal tumours), the authors came to the conclusion that adenomas of dark and mixed polymorphic cells belong to hormonally active adrenal tumours, while light-cell monomorphic adenomas belong to hormonally inactive tumours. An electron-microscopic study provides identification of signs of functional activity in adenomas and cancer tumours, to clear up the additional criteria of anaplasia in them. In patients with Icenko-Cushing syndrome, but without a tumour in the adrenal cortex ultrastructural changes in corticocytes are characteristic of the increase of cellular proliferation and the decrease of incretory activity. The follow-up results of surgical treatment were studied in all cases.