1)To know the imaging features of adrenocortical carcinoma. 2)To differentiate it from other adrenal masses.

Adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC)is a highly malignant but rare neoplasm with a poor prognosis. They are often diagnosed at an advanced stage. Adrenal carcinomas arise from the adrenal cortex. Although men and women are affected equally, functioning tumours are more common in females. It has a bimodal distribution by age. The median age of presentation is around 40 to 50 years. An additional incidence peak occurs in early childhood. In these cases, tumours are more likely to be functioning . Risk factors include having the...

Conventional radiography: Radiographs of the abdomen may demonstrate mass effect from the tumor due to their large size at presentation.The calcifications may be detected with abdominal radiographs. On excretory urography, adrenal carcinoma often causes mass effect on the ipsilateral superior pole of the kidney, usually displacing the upper pole of the kidney laterally and inferiorly. Computed tomography (CT) With the advent of cross-sectional imaging, the evaluation, staging, and treatment of adrenocortical carcinoma have vastly improved. CT is usually the first imaging modality used to define...

Adrenocortical carcinomas are rare and often diagnosed at an advanced stage. It is important to distinguish adrenocortical carcinomas from other adrenal masses and to detect it at an early stage. Computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and FDG-PET/CT are the most common imaging methods for asessment. Ideally, treatment is with surgical excision, however in many instances, the disease is advanced at the time of diagnosis, in which case chemotherapy and radiation may be given for palliation.

1.Chest x-ray: wash out measurement This site provides a calculator to measure the wash-out of adrenal masses for differentiation of benign masses (usually adenomas) from malignant lesions (usually metastases). 2. Imaging of Adrenal Incidentalomas: Current Status N. Reed Dunnick and Melvyn Korobkin Am. J. Roentgenol., Sep 2002; 179: 559 - 568. 3.Adrenal Masses: Characterization with Combined Unenhanced and Delayed Enhanced CT Elaine M. Caoili et al. Radiology 2002;222:629-633. 4.Management of the clinically inapparent Adrenal Mass 'Incidentaloma' NIH State-of-the-Science Conference Feb 4-6, 2002. State of the...