Problems in the diagnosis of the adrenals with incidental

Abstract

The paper analyzes the case records of 123 patients with a primary diagnosis ofadrenal incidentaloma who were treated at the Endocrinology Research Center, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, in the past 5 years. Ofthem, 87patients were operated on at the surgical department of the Center. Thirty  six patients with a clinically verified diagnosis ofhormonally inactive adrenal tumor without signs ofmalignant growth werefollowed up. All the patients underwent comprehensive clinical and instrumental studies (ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, hormonalstudies). Theirresults were comparedwith the morphological data on distal adrenal changes. The hormonal activity ofadrenal tumors was morphologically determined by histochemical techniques. The study revealed true hormonally inactive tumors only in 12 cases. It is concluded that the concepts of adrenal incidentaloma and of true hormonally tumor are not equivalent and that it is necessary to make a comprehensive clinical and morphobiochemical analysis in adrenal tumors to establish a final nosological diagnosis.