Adrenal lesions (differential)

Last revised by Lotof Hassan Hamdan on 26 Nov 2024

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Weerakkody Y, Hamdan L, Chang D, et al. Adrenal lesions (differential). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 14 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-7972

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-7972

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/7972

rID:

7972

Article created:

25 Dec 2009, Yuranga Weerakkody ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Yuranga Weerakkody had no recorded disclosures.

View Yuranga Weerakkody's current disclosures

Last revised:

26 Nov 2024, Lotof Hassan Hamdan

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Lotof Hassan Hamdan had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Lotof Hassan Hamdan's current disclosures

Revisions:

31 times, by 18 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Urogenital

Tags:

adrenal gland, endocrine, differential

Synonyms:

Unilateral adrenal mass
Adrenal lesions : differential diagnosis
Differential diagnosis of adrenal lesions
Adrenal nodules (differential )
Adrenal masses (differential )
Adrenal incidentalomas (differential)
Unilateral adrenomegaly

Adrenal lesions cover a broad spectrum from benign to neoplastic entities. Due to increased use of cross-sectional imaging they are frequently detected as incidental lesions (incidentalomas). If found incidentally, please refer to the Management of Incidental Adrenal Masses: American College of Radiology White Paper ⁹.

Radiology plays a significant role in differentiation. Cross-sectional imaging is the mainstay of imaging for identifying and assessing adrenal lesions, for which an algorithm to aid characterization is helpful ⁵. Adrenal enlargement is also - rarely - called adrenomegaly, which can be unilateral or bilateral.

Small unilateral adrenal mass

adrenal adenoma: most common lesion detected on CT ^5,6
adrenal metastasis
pheochromocytoma
asymmetric adrenal cortical hyperplasia
adrenal granulomatous disease
- tuberculosis
- histoplasmosis
adrenal myelolipoma

Large solid adrenal mass

Cystic lesions

Other lesions

Other adrenal pathology

adrenal calcification
- Wolman disease

Quiz questions

References

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