Adrenal Incidentaloma Prevalence and Clinical Management- A Retrospective Study

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the characteristics and prevalence of adrenal incidentalomas and subsequent clinical practice among patients in Armed Forces Hospital Southern Region -Saudi Arabia, 2021. An observational retrospective study was conducted in Armed Forces Hospital Southern Region -Saudi Arabia on the medical records of 383 consecutive patients. Patients with incidental adrenal tumors who underwent abdominal CT scans with intravenous contrast during the period from January 2013 and December 2021. A total of 300 patients were included in this study. However, the data were analyzed using statistical tests. The results revealed that most patients with adrenal incidentalomas were above 60 (53.3%%). The gender distribution was nearly equal, with 50.3% females and 49.7% males. Most observed tumors were unilateral (96.0%), while a small percentage was bilateral (4.0%). In terms of size, the majority were less than 1 cm (59.0%), followed by sizes greater than 4 cm (31.0%) and 1-4 cm (10.0%). Further analysis indicated that 49.3% were found to have functioning tumors, while 50.7% had non-functioning tumors. The specific types of functioning tumors included non-functioning adrenal adenoma (50.7%), pheochromocytoma (16.9%), Cushing’s syndrome (5.8%), and other functional tumor types (28.0%). Most of these patients were not referred to endocrine clinics. Adrenal incidentalomas are prevalent in the above-60 age group, with most tumors being non-functional. Further research into adrenal incidentalomas associated with diabetes and hypertension is required.