Liu H, Tang TJ, An ZM, Yu YR. Unilateral adrenal tuberculosis whose computed tomography imaging characteristics mimic a malignant tumor: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2022; 10(17): 5783-5788 [PMID: 35979131 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i17.5783]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ye-Rong Yu, MD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guoxue Alley, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. yerongyu@scu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Jun 16, 2022; 10(17): 5783-5788 Published online Jun 16, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i17.5783
Unilateral adrenal tuberculosis whose computed tomography imaging characteristics mimic a malignant tumor: A case report
Hui Liu, Tian-Jiao Tang, Zhen-Mei An, Ye-Rong Yu
Hui Liu, Department of General Practice, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan, China
Tian-Jiao Tang, The Center of Gerontology and Geriatrics, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Zhen-Mei An, Ye-Rong Yu, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China
Author contributions: Yu YR and An ZM contributed to the conceptualization; Liu H and Tang TJ collected the information; Liu H wrote the original draft; Yu YR reviewed and edited the manuscript; all authors issued final approval for the version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ye-Rong Yu, MD, Chief Doctor, Professor, Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, No. 37 Guoxue Alley, Wuhou District, Chengdu 610041, Sichuan Province, China. yerongyu@scu.edu.cn
Received: November 13, 2021 Peer-review started: November 13, 2021 First decision: December 10, 2021 Revised: December 18, 2021 Accepted: April 4, 2022 Article in press: April 4, 2022 Published online: June 16, 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Adrenal tuberculosis usually presents with bilateral involvement. It has special characteristics in computed tomography (CT) images, such as small size, low attenuation in the center, and peripheral rim enhancement, which differ from those of primary tumors.
CASE SUMMARY
A 42-year-old female presented to the hospital with low back pain. She had been diagnosed with hypertension as well as pulmonary and cerebral tuberculosis but denied having any fever, fatigue, anorexia, night sweats, cough, or weight loss. Abdominal CT revealed an irregular 6.0 cm × 4.5 cm mass with uneven density in the right adrenal gland, while the left adrenal gland was normal. No abnormalities were observed in plasma total cortisol (8 am), adrenocorticotropic hormone, aldosterone/renin ratio, blood catecholamines, or urine catecholamines. A fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the right adrenal gland provided evidence of tuberculosis. After three years of anti-tuberculosis treatments, the large mass in the right adrenal gland was reduced to a slight enlargement.
CONCLUSION
This is a case of unilateral adrenal tuberculosis with CT imaging characteristics mimicking those of a malignant tumor. Extended anti-tuberculosis therapy is recommended in such cases.
Core Tip: In this report, we report a female patient with unilateral adrenal tuberculosis whose CT image characteristics mimic those of a malignant tumor. After a long-term anti-tuberculosis regimen, the large mass in the right adrenal gland was reduced.
