Endocrine hypofunction in the McCune-Albright
syndrome
Tr. J. of Medical Sciences
28 (1998) 311-313
© TÜBİTAK
311
Received: May 1, 1998
Key Words: Endocrine hypofunction,
polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, McCune-
Albright syndrome
Enver ALTAŞ
1
Erhan VAROGLU
2
Necdet ÜNÜVAR
3
Pınar POLAT
4
İbrahim İYİGÜN
5
Zekai ERMAN
6
Mustafa YILDIRIM
2
Departments of
1
Otorhinolaryngoloy,
2
Nuclear
Medicine,
3
Endocrinology,
4
Radiology,
5
Neurology,
6
Pathology, School of Medicine,
Atatürk University, Erzurum-Turkey
Recognition of fibrous dysplasia as a specific disease
entity began with a report of osteodytrophica fibrosa in a
young female exhibiting cafe-au-lait pigmentation and
precocious puberty. This syndrome, identified by Albright
et al. (1), it is now referred to as MAS.
Fibrous dysplasia may be monostotic (affecting a
single bone) or polyostotic (affecting many bones) and is
usually asymmetrical and often unilateral. The rib, femur,
tibia, and maxilla are most commonly involved.
Craniofacial involvement occurs in all of the severe
polyostotic forms, but only in about 30 per cent of the
monostotic forms (2). The aetiology of fibrous dysplasia
is not clear, and several theories exist, including those of
hormonal imbalance (1) and a mutant gene (G protein
alfa subunit) whose protein product affects bone (3). In
this case report, we discuss an interesting case with
endocrine hypofunction and polyostotic fibrous dysplasia
in light of the literature.
This study involves a 31-year-old female with a 4-year
history of painless swelling on the left side of the face ,
causing slight disfigurement, and spontaneous luxations
of her teeth on the upper left side of the jaw and with a
27-year history of cafe-au-lait spots on the back and
precocious puberty. The swelling present over the left
anterolateral wall of the maxilla caused obliteration of the
gingivo-buccal sulcus and left side of the hard palate. No
neurological deficit was determined. She was 134 cm in
height and weighed 45 kg.
Basal hormone tests indicate decreased serum
concentration of TSH, FT3, FT4, ACTH, and cortisol
(THS: 0.3 µU/mL; FT3: 1.4 pg/mL; FT4: 0.4 µg/mL;
ACTH: 3.2 pg/mL; cortisol: <1.0 µg/dL). In addition,
there was no response of TSH to stimulation with TRH
(400 µg iv), the responses of FSH and LH to stimulation
with LHRH (100 µg iv) were normal, and the response of
ACTH to stimulation with CRF (100 µg iv) was
inadequate. The stimulation with exercise test performed
on our case showed that basal hormone concentrations
were in the normal range and GH responded normally.
Althought serum concentrations of calcium, phosphate,
and PTH were within normal limits, serum concentration
of alkaline phosphatase was high.
Radiological examinations, especially plain
radiograms, revealed a thick and foreshortened femoral
neck, known Shepherd’s crook deformity, was detected.
Furthermore, the diaphyses ground glass appearance and
dense medullary sclerosis. Spin-echo T1 weighted MR
images revealed expanding lesions filling all of the left
maxillary sinus, and a hypointense expanding lesion in the
parietal bone and computed tomography smoky
appearance at some localization on computed
tomography was also detected. Anterior and posterior
whole-body bone scintigraphy was performed with Tc-
99m MDP (technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate).
The whole-body scan was a helpful technique for
identifying polyostotic involvement in this patient.
Anterior and posterior body images showed increased Tc-
99m MDP accumulation on the bilateral maxillar bones
and left orbital roof, and inhomogenous uptake on the
humeri, femurs, tibias and on tarsal bones symmetrically,
and the right ribs (Figure 1).
Short Report