Imaging of hyperfunctioning adrenal masses
Expert review of endocrinology & metabolism(2014)
Abstract
Adrenal imaging not only aims to detect hyperfunctioning adrenal lesions responsible for distinct clinical syndromes (pheochromocytoma, Cushing's syndrome or primary aldosteronism) but also to differentiate malignant from benign disease. Computed tomography (CT), MRI and high-resolution ultrasound imaging methods are available for detection of adrenal masses with high sensitivities. Although the risk of malignancy increases with the size of the adrenal mass, this criterion does not discriminate malignant from benign disease with sufficient specificity. Attenuation values on unenhanced CT, contrast washout characteristics on CT and chemical-shift imaging on MRI help differentiate adrenal adenomas and nonadenomas. Adrenal lesions with equivocal results on CT and MRI can be characterized further by functional nuclear medicine imaging. Radiopharmaceutical agents specifically detect masses derived from the adrenal cortex (e.g.,I-6-iodomethyl-norcholesterol) and from the adrenal medulla (e.g., I- and I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine). Unspecific tracers, such as F-fluorodeoxyglucose, are very useful in discriminating malignant and benign adrenal tumors.
MoreTranslated text
Key words
Cushing’s syndrome,MRI,computed tomography,functional nuclear medicine imaging,pheochromocytoma,primary aldosteronism,ultrasonography
AI Read Science
Must-Reading Tree
Example
![](https://originalfileserver.aminer.cn/sys/aminer/pubs/mrt_preview.jpeg)
Generate MRT to find the research sequence of this paper
Chat Paper
Summary is being generated by the instructions you defined