• Kosin Medical Journal
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.215-222
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• 2018

An incidentaloma is a tumor found incidentally without clinical symptoms or suspicion; the lesion may be adrenal, pituitary, or thyroidal. We report the case of an asymptomatic individual with preoperatively undiagnosed pheochromocytoma (size: 4.86 cm) that was revealed using elective nonadrenal surgical procedures. The patient demonstrated peri- and post-operative hypertensive crisis and tachycardia. Three days after the dramatic onset of symptoms, the patient expired due to pulmonary edema, multiple organ failure, and terminal sepsis, despite administration of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A left medial kidney mass obtained at autopsy confirmed pheochromocytoma.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.108-115
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• 1997

$^{131}I-6{\beta}$-iodomethyl-19-norcholesterol(NP-59) has an advantage to assess adrenal dysfunction caused by adrenal cortical disorders. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical usefulness of NP-59 scintigraphy in each adrenal disease. Ten patients who did eleven NP-59 adrenal scintigraphies at Dong-A University Hospital from March 1990 to December 1996 were selected as the subject. Among the subject there were 5 cases of Cushing's syndrome, 2 cases of incidentaloma, 1 case of metastatic adrenal tumor, liver cirrhosis with hirsutism and hypertension respectively. Among 5 cases of Cushing's syndrome, there were 2 cases of Cushing's disease, 2 cases of adrenal adenoma and 1 case of adrenal carcinoma. There are no disagreement between clinical diagnosis and scan finding in Cushing's syndrome. In 2 incidentaloma cases, even though one is interpretated as a functioning tumor, both of 2 cases could avoid unnecessary biopsy according to scintigraphy result. One case of hirsutism, clinically adrenal originated, revealed the normal scintigraphic finding after dexamethasone suppression scan. It could suggest that the etiology of hirsutism was extra-adrenal origin. One case of hypertension took the study to exclude the possibility of primary aldosteronism. Normal suppression scan finding revealed that primary aldosteronism did not exist in this case. In conclusion, NP-59 scintigraphy was very useful in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of Cushing's syndrome and it could avoid unnecessary biopsy in the incidental adrenal tumor.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.421-428
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• 2009

Purpose: We have evaluated characteristics of adrenal masses incidentally observed in nonenhanced F-18 FDG PET/CT of the oncologic patients and the diagnostic ability of F-18 FDG PET/CT to differentiate malignant from benign adrenal masses. Materials and Methods: Between Mar 2005 and Aug 2008, 75 oncologic patients (46 men, 29 women; mean age, $60.8{\pm}10.2$ years; range, 35-87 years) with 89 adrenal masses incidentally found in PET/CT were enrolled in this study. For quantitative analysis, size (cm), Hounsfield unit (HU), maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), SUVratio of all 89 adrenal masses were measured. SUVmax of the adrenal mass divided by SUVliver, which is SUVmax of the segment 8, was defined as SUVratio. The final diagnosis of adrenal masses was based on pathologic confirmation, radiologic evaluation (HU<0 : benign), and clinical decision. Results: Size, HU, SUVmax, and SUVratio were all significantly different between benign and malignant adrenal masses.(P < 0.05) And, SUVratio was the most accurate parameter. A cut-off value of 1.0 for SUVratio provided 90.9% sensitivity and 75.6% specificity. In small adrenal masses (1.5 cm or less), only SUVratio had statistically significant difference between benign and malignant adrenal masses. Similarly a cut-off value of 1.0 for SUVratio provided 80.0% sensitivity and 86.4% specificity. Conclusion: F-18 FDG PET/CT can offer more accurate information with quantitative analysis in differentiating malignant from benign adrenal masses incidentally observed in oncologic patients, compared to nonenhanced CT.

• The Korean Journal of Urological Oncology
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.137-142
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• 2017

Purpose: To examine and compare the perioperative outcomes of laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) and to determine its efficacy in patients with nonfunctioning adrenal adenomas (NFA) and subclinical Cushing syndrome (SCS). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data obtained from 79 consecutive patients who underwent LA for the treatment of either NFA (n=35) or SCS (n=44) between 2011 and 2016. All patients had undergone computed tomography, as well as endocrinological tests to confirm the diagnosis prior to the adrenalectomy. The primary endpoint was improved metabolic parameters relating to diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Results: Patients with SCS compared to those with NFA showed a higher occurrence of diabetes (29.5% vs. 11.4%), hypertension (59.1% vs. 34.3%), and dyslipidemia (43.2% vs. 14.3%). Patients with SCS showed a smaller median tumor size compared to those with NFA (2.5 cm vs. 5 cm). No significant perioperative complications ${\geq}$ Clavien-Dindo classification grade III were observed in any patient (SCS or NFA group). In terms of their metabolic profile, patients with SCS showed a significant postoperative improvement in hypertension (50.0%), diabetes (53.9%), dyslipidemia (31.6%), and obesity (29.2%). However, patients with NFA showed a postoperative improvement only in dyslipidemia (40.0%) and obesity (4.8%). Conclusions: Owing to absence of significant perioperative complications and the marked postoperative improvement in metabolic impairment, LA is a useful treatment strategy in patients diagnosed with SCS. In contrast, LA was not observed to show beneficial effects in correcting/improving the metabolic profile in patients presenting with NFA.