Adrenal pathology in childhood: a spectrum of disease

Adrenal lesions in children may present with an asymptomatic adrenal mass lesion, an endocrinopathy, a hypertensive or metabolic crisis or a paraneoplastic syndrome. Some of the underlying disease processes remain localised within the adrenal gland or may develop into disseminated disease. The role of the radiologist is to confirm the adrenal location of a lesion and to document any other foci of disease. Ultrasound, CT, MR imaging and metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy are the most commonly utilised imaging modalities for examining the adrenal glands and their pathologies in children. This paper reviews the spectrum of adrenal disease in childhood and presents the information as a series of radiological appearances: anomalies of adrenal shape, location, number and size, cystic adrenal masses, solid adrenal mass lesions, and adrenal calcifications are all examined. The radiological findings must always be interpreted in conjunction with the patient's age, the clinical history, the findings on physical examination and the available biochemical data.