Cushing's Disease and Basophilic Microadenomas

An editorial appearing six years ago in the Journal 1 pointed out the unresolved controversy between those who considered Cushing's disease to be the result of a primary neoplastic change of the pituitary corticotrope cells and those who believed that the primary disease lay within the hypothalamus and that pituitary corticotrope tumors resulted from chronic overstimulation of corticotrope cells. Physicians belonging to the first camp favored transsphenoidal microsurgery with removal of what was considered the primary cause of the condition. Physicians of the second camp sought medications that would restore hypothalamic function. In a minority of cases cyproheptadine seemed to achieve . . .