Adrenal Diseases - Q & A General Topics
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What should be done about an adrenal tumor?
The following questions and answers are taken from back
issues of our quarterly newsletter, NADF News. The answers above were provided by
NADF Medical Advisor Dr. Paul Margulies, MD, FACP, FACE.
NADF News features the latest information on adrenal
diseases including Q & A and Member Contributions.
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What should be done about an adrenal tumor?
Adrenal tumors causing no significant symptoms are very common. Since
CT’s and MRI were invented, many people have been found with incidental
adrenal tumors and this often causes significant concern. An endocrinology
consultation can provide an evaluation to determine:
- how big the tumor is on the scan and
- whether or not there is any evidence of abnormal adrenal function.
Adrenal tumors can produce too much of any of the adrenal
hormones:
- cortisol (Cushing’s Syndrome)
- aldosterone (hyperaldosteronism)
- androgens or adrenaline (pheochromocytoma).
After a careful history and
physical examination, routine blood studies and then specific blood and
urine tests are performed to rule out any excess hormone secretion. If the
tumor is actually making an excess of any of these hormones, surgery is
generally necessary to cure the disease.
Most of these tumors are actually
non-functioning. Then, the decision for surgery depends completely on the
size or rate of growth of the tumor. Most tumors actually grow very, very
slowly and if they are less than 3 cm are almost always benign. In that case
they can be followed with CT imaging every 6 to 12 months. If the tumor is
found to grow it should then be removed because if it gets very large, there
is a significant potential that it will become malignant.
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