A case report of a patient with bronchial carcinoid tumour and late presentation of Cushing's syndrome.

Bronchial carcinoid tumour with ectopic adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) production is an uncommon cause of Cushing's syndrome. In most instances, the patient presents with clinical hyperglucocorticolism and a search for its underlying pathology leads to the discovery of an inconspicuous bronchial carcinoid tumour, if at all. Often the tumour is not immediately detectable. We report a patient who presented in the reverse order--she initially had a large asymptomatic bronchial carcinoid tumour that subsequently manifested as clinical Cushing's syndrome after remaining quiescent for four years.