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| Adrenal Cortical Adenoma |
| Etiology • Unknown. |
| Pathogenesis • Unknown., |
| Epidemiology • More frequently seen in women than men • More common in the fourth and fifth decades of life • May be associated with Cushing's syndrome (primary hypercortisolism), primary hyperaldosteronism (Conn's syndrome), or may be non-functioning. |
| General Gross Description • Golden-yellow to yellow-orange • Bulges from the cortical surface • Surrounded by a delicate capsule • Weight < 30 grams |
| General Microscopic Description • Cortical cells with round to oval nuclei, small nucleoli, and abundant often lipid-laden cytoplasm • Mixture of cell types, some small and lacking in lipid, others much larger • Cytologic atypia may occur and does not indicate malignancy |
| Clinical Correlation • 10-15% of adults with Cushing's syndrome characterized by central obesity, moon facies, hirsutism, hypertension, weakness and skin striae have an autonomous source of excess cortisol emanating from an adrenal adenoma • 65% of patients with primary hyperaldosteronism have a solitary adrenal cortical adenoma • Less than 0.2% of patients with hypertension have an aldosterone secreting adenoma. • Complete surgical excision of the neoplasm is curative |
| References • Cotran RS, Kumar V, Robbins SL: Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. 5th ed. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders, 1994, pp. 1150-1154,1160-1. |
| Adrenal Cortical Adenoma |
| Synopsis by: Melinda Sanders M.D. (T93000M81400)[5] |
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