ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the etiologies and clinical characteristics of bilateral adrenal lesions.Methods:The clinical data of 143 patients with bilateral adrenal lesions hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from Jan. 2013 to Mar. 2018 were collected and analyzed.Results:140 patients were retained for final analysis. 79 were men, and 61 were women. The age was (51.53±13.93) years. Regarding the etiologies, there were primary aldosteronism ( n=44, 31.43%) , Cushing’s syndrome ( n=27, 19.29%) , non-functional lesions ( n=23, 16.43%) , adrenal tuberculosis ( n=17, 12.14%) , pheochromocytoma ( n=11, 7.86%) , congenital adrenal hyperplasia ( n=5, 3.57%) , adrenal metastases ( n=5, 3.57%) , and adrenal lymphoma ( n=4, 2.86) . These patients were classified into the following groups according to the mass size: ≤2 cm, 2-4 cm and ≥4 cm. The highest proportion of primary aldosteronism (62.79%) , Cushing’s syndrome (46.15%) and pheochromocytoma (31.25%) was observed in the ≤2 cm, 2-4 cm and ≥4 cm groups, respectively. The mass sizes of primary aldosteronism, Cushing’s syndrome and pheochromocytoma were compared, with pheochromocytoma the largest, followed by Cushing’s syndrome, non-functional lesion, and primary aldosteronism. Conclusions:For patients with bilateral adrenal lesions in our hospital, primary aldosteronism and Cushing’s syndrome are more common than non-functional lesion. Mass size is of great value in the diagnosis of endocrinological etiology, as well as distinguishing malignant tumors from the benign ones. The imaging phenotype is helpful to determine tumor types.