Abstract
From March 1978 to May 1987, 22 cases of primary adrenal tumors were examined by ultrasonography. The patients ranged in age from 21 to 79 years with an average of 42.6 year, including 11 cases of pheochromocytoma, 6 cases of primary aldosteronism, 4 cases of Cushing's syndrome and 1 case of ganglioneuroma. Visualization of tumors was successful in 19 of the 22 patients (86.4%). The detecting rate of right adrenal tumors was 100% (12/12), while the rate of the left was 80% (8/10). The sizes of detected adrenal tumors were larger than 10mm on the right and larger than 20mm on the left. Obesity and bowel gas degraded the image of left adrenal tumors, resulting in a lower detective rate of the tumors. The suprarenal area and small lesions were best demonstrated by a lateral intercostal approach using longitudinal scanning plane and by a right subcostal approach using transverse scanning plane. In pheochromocytoma, cystic lesions (echo free space) existed, and the fact that no cystic lesion in other adrenal tumors was helpful for diagnosis of pheochromocytoma. It is concluded that ultrasonography is a very useful method for diagnosis of adrenal tumors as an initial imaging procedure, because it is totally non-invasive, rapid and less expensive than all of the other techniques.
