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Query: UMLS:C0027627 (metastases)
 103,950 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Adrenal myelolipoma is a rare nonfunctioning tumor consisting histologically of an admixture of adipose tissue and extramedullary hemopoietic elements within the adrenal glands. Less than 300 cases have been reported in the literature and only 15 case reports have described cytological findings of this tumor obtained by fine-needle aspiration (FNA). We report a case of a 48-year-old male who had had anaplastic large cell carcinoma of the right lung. The left adrenal mass was encountered during a staging workup that led to a clinical suspicion of metastatic disease to the adrenal gland. FNA under computed tomography (CT) guidance was performed obtaining cytological material from which diagnosis of myelolipoma was made. The findings reemphasized an important role of FNA in investigation of adrenal mass. The literature on FNA cytology of adrenal myelolipoma is reviewed. Diagn. Cytopathol. 1999;21:409-412.
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PMID:Fine-needle aspiration cytology of adrenal myelolipoma: case report and review of the literature. 1057 74

Incidentally discovered adrenal masses, or adrenal incidentalomas, have become a common clinical problem owing to wide application of radiologic imaging techniques. This definition encompasses a heterogeneous spectrum of pathologic entities, including primary adrenocortical and medullary tumors, benign or malignant lesions, hormonally active or inactive lesions, metastases, and infections. Once an adrenal mass is detected, the clinician needs to address two crucial questions: is the mass malignant, and is it hormonally active? This article provides an overview of the diagnostic clinical approach and management of the adrenal incidentaloma. Mass size is the most reliable variable to distinguish benign and malignant adrenal masses. Adrenalectomy should be recommended for masses greater than 4.0 cm because of the increased risk of malignancy. Adrenal scintigraphy has proved useful in discriminating between benign and malignant lesions. Finally, fine-needle aspiration biopsy is an important tool in the evaluation of oncological patients and it may be useful in establishing the presence of metastatic disease. The majority of adrenal incidentalomas are non-hypersecretory cortical adenomas but an endocrine evaluation can lead to the identification of a significant number of cases with subclinical Cushing's syndrome (5-15%), pheochromocytoma (1.5-13%) and aldosteronoma (0-7%). The first step of hormonal screening should include an overnight low dose dexamethasone suppression test, the measure of urinary catecholamines or metanephrines, serum potassium and, in hypertensive patients, upright plasma aldosterone/plasma renin activity ratio. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate measurement may show evidence of adrenal androgen excess.
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PMID:Adrenal incidentaloma. 1100 18

Metastatic spread to the ipsilateral adrenal gland occurs in 1.2-10% of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In the majority of these cases, the primary tumor is locally advanced with poor differentiation, venous invasion, and involvement of the regional lymph nodes. Adrenal metastases are usually detected preoperatively by CT scan or MRI. Adrenal metastases are indicators of systemic disease with poor prognosis quo ad vitam. Only 0.5-2.3% of patients with RCC and adrenal metastases are free of venous invasion or lymphatic disease. In this small subset of patients, cure is possible by surgical removal of the adrenal gland. In 97.7-99.5% of patients with RCC, ipsilateral adrenalectomy has no impact on their prognosis. We therefore conclude that this procedure should be performed only if there is radiological suspicion of an adrenal mass.
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PMID:[Adrenalectomy within the scope of tumor nephrectomy--overtreatment?]. 1122 33

Adrenal epithelioid angiosarcoma is an extremely rare tumor. Even if such tumors are very aggressive, a long survival may occasionally be observed after an adrenal ectomy. A 70-year-old woman suffering from persistent right flank pain showed a 5-cm right adrenal mass plus a 2-cm liver mass at the radiologic workup, and both were suspected of being malignant. No adrenal hypersecretion was demonstrated. During an explorative median laparotomy the right adrenal gland with the whole periadrenal tissue and locoregional lymph nodes was removed. A histological examination revealed an adrenal angiosarcoma. The resection margin was tumor-free with no lymph node infiltration. The liver mass turned out to be a cistobiliary adenoma. Since no distant metastases were observed, no adjuvant chemotherapy was performed. After an 18-month follow-up the patient is still well with no sign of a relapse. When this rare adrenal tumor is encountered and curative treatment is attempted initially extensive surgical procedures are essential.
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PMID:Adrenal angiosarcoma: report of a case. 1210 88

The incidental finding of an unsuspected adrenal mass ranges from 0.5% to 5% in abdominal CT series. The optimal diagnostic approach to such masses is to diagnose malignant or secretory tumors requiring excision and to otherwise avoid unnecessary surgery. Physical examination generally contributes little. A standard biochemical evaluation should include the measurement of 24 hour urinary catecholamines and metanephrine, urinary free cortisol and plasma cortisol levels at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. combined with an overnight low-dose dexamethasone suppression test, serum potassium assay, and determination of upright plasma aldosterone to plasma renin activity. These tests will serve to screen for pheochromocytoma, subclinical Cushing's syndrome, and primary hyperaldosteronism respectively. Imaging characteristics suggestive of malignancy include: size greater than 4 cm., heterogeneous lesion and/or density greater than 20 Hounsfield Units on CT scan, slow enhancement with delayed washout after intravenous contrast injection on CT scan, and slightly decreased signal intensity in out of phase (fat suppressed) MR acquisition. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy should be performed only if metastatic disease is suspected. Adrenal scintigraphy with iodocholesterol may be useful where adenoma with subclinical Cushing's syndrome or solid tumor is suspected. In summary, the following strategy is recommended for the management of adrenal incidentalomas : mass lesions larger than 4 cm. and hormone-secreting tumors should be removed. All non-secreting adrenal incidentalomas smaller than 4 cm. in diameter should be followed by serial imaging at regular intervals (6, 12, and 36 months) and by endocrine reevaluation at one year.
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PMID:[Diagnostic and therapeutic strategy for an incidental finding of an adrenal mass]. 1241 Jan 36

Endocrine surgeons should maintain a high index of suspicion when patients are diagnosed with clinical signs or symptoms of parathyroid carcinoma. Although rare, the best chance for cure of these patients is at the time of the initial operation. Surgical resection of recurrent disease can provide effective palliation and can sometimes be assisted using gamma-probe directed dissection of sestamibi-labeled tumor tissue. Treatment of hyperparathyroidism in the setting of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN-1), particularly in the reoperative setting, can be aided by using the rapid intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay to judge the adequacy of parathyroid debulking. In addition, in selected cases, the gamma probe can assist in identifying the location of ectopic or autografted sestamibi-labeled parathyroid tissue. Patients with incidental adrenal masses rarely require fine needle aspiration to exclude metastatic cancer. Fine needle aspiration, if performed, should never precede hormone evaluation to exclude pheochromocytoma. Patients who are diagnosed with incidental adrenal masses in the setting of a prior or concurrent cancer diagnosis are equally likely to have a primary adrenal mass as they would be to have metastatic cancer in the adrenal gland. Pheochromocytomas occasionally develop in patients with MEN-1. In suspicious cases, molecular identification of an MEN-1 mutation can be used to confirm the diagnosis. Preoperative hormone evaluation of a patient with an adrenal incidentaloma should include evaluation for subclinical Cushing's syndrome through an overnight 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test. Identification of this condition allows for safe peri- and postoperative steroid hormone replacement, with very slow withdrawal of exogenous steroids to allow the opposite adrenal gland to recover and avoid postoperative Addisonian crisis. Paragangliomas are more commonly multifocal and malignant compared to pheochromocytomas. Evaluation of patients with paragangliomas should include radiographic staging for multifocality and metastatic disease, and postoperative hormone and radiographic follow-up evaluation should be performed. Consideration should be given to genetic testing for von Hippel-Lindau and succinate dehydrogenase mutations. Surgical treatment of rare functioning pancreatic and duodenal endocrine tumors, such as metastatic sporadic insulinoma and MEN-1-associated gastrinoma, can provide effective palliation. Surgical treatment should be integrated into a comprehensive treatment scheme that recognizes the natural history of the disease and incorporates appropriate adjunctive therapies and follow-up strategies.
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PMID:Unusual functioning endocrine tumors. 1523 9

Radiological characterization of an adrenal tumor as adenoma may decrease the need for follow-up imaging studies, biopsies, and unnecessary adrenalectomies. We retrospectively reviewed 299 adrenalectomies in 290 patients at Cleveland Clinic Foundation over a recent 5-yr period to assess the value of noncontrast Hounsfield units (HU) in characterizing whether an adrenal mass is adenoma or nonadenoma. The mean (+/- SD) HU value for the adrenocortical adenoma/hyperplasia group was 16.2 +/- 13.6 and significantly lower (P < 0.0001) than primary adrenocortical cancers (36.9 +/- 4.1), metastases (39.2 +/- 15.2), and pheochromocytomas (38.6 +/- 8.2). The sensitivity and specificity for 10- and 20-HU cutoff values to differentiate adenomas/hyperplasias from nonadenomas were 40.5 and 100% and 58.2 and 96.9%, respectively. The size of the adrenal tumor had less value with only 40.7 and 81.3% sensitivity and 94.7 and 61.4% specificity for 2- and 4-cm cutoff values. A combination of less than or equal to 4-cm adrenal mass size and noncontrast computed tomography HU less than or equal to 20 had 42.1% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Our study, the largest with surgical histopathology as the gold standard for diagnosis, supports a noncontrast computed tomography attenuation value of 10 HU as a safe cutoff value to differentiate adrenal adenomas/hyperplasias from nonadenomas.
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PMID:Clinical utility of noncontrast computed tomography attenuation value (hounsfield units) to differentiate adrenal adenomas/hyperplasias from nonadenomas: Cleveland Clinic experience. 1557 20

Adrenal incidentalomas are detected more frequently with high-resolution imaging modalities. It is difficult to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions despite the so-called histologic Weiss criteria, imaging features, and molecular studies. We here present a 52 yr-old man who was found to have an adrenal incidentaloma during an annual check-up at his urologist. An 8 cm large adrenal lesion was detected on ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging with imaging features suggestive of malignancy. The lesion was hormonally inactive. A left-sided adrenalectomy was performed and histologic grading revealed a Weiss score of 2, suggesting a benign tumor. However, on further follow-up, the patient developed a local recurrence and pulmonary metastases diagnosed 6 yr after initial presentation. After repeat surgery in the left adrenal bed adrenocortical tumor tissue had a Weiss score of 8, clearly suggesting histologic malignancy. The patient received adjuvant mitotane therapy. Under this therapy, he developed a right-sided adrenal mass (contralateral from the primary tumor) of 2 cm size which disappeared during the following 9 months, whereas the pulmonary metastases remained unchanged, suggesting tumor clones with a variable response to treatment or spontaneous apoptosis. This case suggests that adrenal incidentalomas larger than 6 cm with imaging features such as intratumoral necrosis suggestive of malignancy, should be managed as potential cancers independent of the so-called Weiss criteria. In such patients, close follow-up examinations including high-resolution imaging (preferably 3 monthly) are needed and should be carried out by a physician familiar/specialized in endocrine oncology.
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PMID:Does tumor heterogeneity limit the use of the Weiss criteria in the evaluation of adrenocortical tumors? 1571 55

Improvements in abdominal imaging techniques have increased the detection of clinically inapparent adrenal masses, or incidentalomas (AI), the appropriate diagnosis and management of which have become a common clinical problem for health care professionals. Once an adrenal mass has been detected, the clinician needs to address two questions: 1) is the tumor hormonally active? and 2) is there any chance of the mass being malignant? The majority of AI is non-hypersecretory cortical adenomas, but an endocrine evaluation can lead to the identification of subtle hormone excess. An overnight low-dose dexamethasone suppression test, fractionated urinary or plasma metanephrine assay and, in hypertensive patients, establishing the upright plasma aldosterone/plasma renin activity ratio are recommended as preliminary screening steps. Masses greater than 4 cm are at greater risk of malignancy. Morphological imaging features may be helpful in the distinction between benign and malignant forms. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy is an important tool in the evaluation of oncological patients to establish any metastatic disease. Adrenalectomy is indicated by evidence of a functional adrenal mass, or a suspected malignant form. We advocate adrenalectomy of subtle hypercortisolism, especially in the presence of hypertension, obesity, diabetes or osteoporosis potentially aggravated by glucocorticoid excess. A close follow-up is needed, particularly in the first year after diagnosis.
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PMID:A comprehensive approach to adrenal incidentalomas. 1576 28

A 37-yr-old man presented with the classic signs of mineralocorticoid excess hypertension and hypokalemia. The cause was not aldosterone excess, but elevation of plasma 11-deoxycorticosterone (DOC). Computed tomography (CT) scans showed a large right adrenal mass without signs of metastatic disease. The tumor was removed by open laparotomy, and histology revealed an adrenocortical carcinoma. Two yr after diagnosis, the patient is in good general condition and there is no sign of recurrence or metastatic disease, despite the large tumor size. DOC producing adrenocortical carcinomas causing mineralocorticoid hypertension are very rare, so far only 10 cases have been described in the literature.
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PMID:Adrenocortical carcinoma producing 11-deoxycorticosterone: a rare cause of mineralocorticoid hypertension. 1581 73


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