title: Lesson of the month 2: Cauda equina in Cushing's syndrome.
abstract: We present the case of a 34-year old woman who initially presented with obesity and back pain. She was eventually diagnosed with Cushing's syndrome secondary to an adrenocortical carcinoma that had metastasised to her spine, causing cauda equina compression. The delays in reaching the correct diagnosis caused significant morbidity and exemplify the pitfalls of premature closing, a common cognitive error in diagnostic reasoning.
authors.affiliation: Oncology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK dlm37@cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maslin
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gounaris
authors.affiliation: Oncology, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK.
authors.forename: Kenrick
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Pippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corrie
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001416:Back Pain; D002420:Cauda Equina / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003480:Cushing Syndrome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression
keywords: Cushing’s syndrome; adrenocortical carcinoma; back pain; cauda equina; premature closing
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