Cushing's syndrome: 20 years after adrenalectomy.

The long term results (over 20 years) of our first 13 patients treated by adrenalectomy for Cushing's syndrome are described. Twelve survived operation and 5 of these died within 5 years, but thereafter the expectation of life of the treated patients was similar to that of the general population. At 20 years 7 patients were alive and 6 were well. If modern therapeutic measures to control adrenocortical function before operation has been available 20 years ago, some of the early deaths might have been prevented.