Diagnosing Cushing's disease in the context of renal failure: a case report and literature review.

The diagnosis of endogenous hypercortisolism (Cushing syndrome) is one of the most difficult problems in endocrinology. The signs and symptoms of Cushing syndrome overlap with many common medical disorders such as obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Another challenge to establishing a diagnosis of neoplastic/pathologic endogenous hypercortisolism is that many common disorders such as alcoholism and depression may cause a state of non-neoplastic/physiologic hypercortisolism (formerly known as pseudo-Cushing syndrome) and may lead to similar clinical and biochemical findings.