CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 87Adrenal and Paraganglionic TumorsNeuroendocrine Tumor Research AdvancesAdrenal Hormones and Disorders

Management of incidentally discovered adrenal masses and risk of malignancy

Favia, Gennaro, Lumachi, Franco, Basso, Stefano, D'Amico, Davide F.·2000·Surgery
DOI 10.1067/msy.2000.109965
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Background Incidentally discovered adrenal masses of more than 1 cm in size are relatively frequent, but the correct management of such lesions is not well established.Methods Between 1980 and 1999, 158 patients (73 men [46.2%] and 85 women [53.8%]; median age, 58 years) with adrenal incidentalomas of more than 2 cm in size were observed. Sixty-eight patients (43.0%) underwent adrenalectomy. The main reasons for surgery were (1) suspicious computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appearance or no uptake at the 75-Se-norcholesterol scintigraphy (NCS; n = 22 patients), (2) an increase in the size of the mass of more than l cm (n = 15 patients), (3) subclinical endocrine hyperfunction (n = 14 patients), and (4) mass size of more than 5 cm (n = 22 patients), with imaging-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy with spinal-type narrow-gauge needle (FNAB) that suggested malignancy (n = 5 patients).Results Pathologic examination showed 39 adrenocortical adenomas (57.4%), 20 adrenal malignancies (29.4%; carcinomas, 15; unsuspected metastases, 3; nonfunctioning malignant pheochromocytomas, 2), and 9 various benign lesions (13.2%). All masses that increased in size were benign. Seven malignant tumors (46.7%) were 3 to 4 cm in size, and 14 benign lesions (29.1%) were 5 to 6 cm in size. Sensitivity and specificity in the detection of malignancy were 100% and 100% for NCS (n = 34 patients) and FNAB (n = 19 patients), 75.0% and 93.7% for CT scan (n = 68 patients), and 87.5% and 100% for MRI (n = 26 patients), respectively.Conclusions To differentiate benign and malignant incidentalomas, NCS and FNAB are more sensitive than CT scan and MRI; size criteria are of little value.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1067/msy.2000.109965

Cites

26 of 26 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • All studies consistently report a higher incidence of ACC if the adrenal mass is greater than 4 cm in size.

    “However, it should be noted that all studies consistently report a higher incidence of ACC if the adrenal mass is greater than 4 cm in size (39,49,63,66,71).”

    From Adrenal incidentaloma (2020) · cites this paper as [63]

  • The 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test is the most used test for diagnosing subclinical hypercortisolism.

    “To date, the 1-mg DST is the most used test to diagnose SH, either alone (34 -36, 38, 44 -46) or in combination with other parameters (9, 18, 21, 32, 37, 39, 42, 49, 52-54, 56, 60, 61).”

    From Diagnosis and Treatment of Subclinical Hypercortisolism (2011) · cites this paper as [45]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Favia, G., Lumachi, F., Basso, S., & D'Amico, D. F.
Affiliations
University of Padua (IT)
ORCID
Venue
Surgery
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2000-12
Volume
128
Issue
6
Pages
918-924
ISSN
0039-6060 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1067/msy.2000.109965
OpenAlex
W2083316743
Cited by
87
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 6
FWCI
7.19
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Surgery (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Padua Research Archive (University of Padova) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Adrenal and Paraganglionic Tumors
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Advances
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
Keywords
adrenal incidentaloma, adrenal mass, adrenalectomy, adrenal adenoma, adrenocortical carcinoma, fine-needle aspiration, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, tumor size, cancer risk, benign versus malignant differentiation
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adrenal Gland Neoplasms, Adult, Aged, Biopsy, Needle, Blood Pressure, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Tomography, X-Ray Computed

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review