Cushing’s disease: role of bilateral adrenalectomy

Introduction Laparoscopic bilateral adrenalectomy (BAD) is one of the treatments of Cushing’s Disease (CD), but its indications and outcome is debated. Methods The literature on BAD was reviewed as part of a work performed for the Cushing’s disease guideline. Results The surgical morbidity of BAD is reported between 10 and 18% and no mortality has been reported in the largest series. Because of the endocrine sacrifice it will be mostly performed after a multidisciplinary team discussion in selected cases of refractory CD (mostly after failure of pituitary surgery and/or medical treatment). It is also frequently discussed in female patients desiring pregnancy. Corticotroph tumor progression occurs in 40% of the patients but is in most patients manageable when detected early by a careful long term monitoring with pituitary MRI and ACTH assays after BAD. Conclusion BAD is a safe and effective treatment of CD used in specific situations and requiring long term monitoring.