Imaging assessment of adrenal gland

Abstract

Imaging plays an essential role in approaching adrenal diseases. The prevalence of adrenal incidentalomas ranges from 3 to 7% of all cross-sectional abdominal exams in adults, requiring specific knowledge and expertise of radiologists to adequately deal with this situation. On the other side, despite the diagnosis of clinical adrenal-related syndromes relying on clinical and laboratory criteria, imaging is still essential to define the etiology of these conditions and/or to indicate the best therapeutical management. This article focuses on essential knowledge of anatomy and to review the common computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) characteristics of the most common abnormalities of adrenal glands where imaging plays a role.

Keywords

• Adrenal imaging. Incidentalomas computed tomography. Magnetic resonance imaging. Benign adrenal mass. Malignant adrenal mass.