A Case of Traumatic Bilateral Adrenal Hemorrhage Mimicking Bilateral Adrenal Adenomas / 영남의대학술지

ABSTRACT

Adrenal hemorrhages caused by blunt abdominal trauma have been frequently reported, and most of the lesions are unilateral. In contrast, bilateral hemorrhage of the adrenal glands after trauma rarely occurs in subjects with predisposing conditions such as coagulopathy, thromboembolism, and sepsis. Furthermore, bilateral hemorrhage of the adrenal glands is potentially fatal by inducing acute adrenal insufficiency. Here,a case of a 40-year-old man who developed traumatic bilateral adrenal hemorrhage after a car accident, without any predisposing condition, is reported. The spontaneous shrinkage of the bilateral lesions revealed in the follow-up abdominal computed tomography (CT) scansupported the aforementioned diagnosis. Fortunately, the patient had no clinical or biochemical evidence suggesting acute adrenal insufficiency. To these authors' knowledge, this is the first South Korean report of traumatic bilateral adrenal hemorrhage in a subject with no predisposing factors.