Benign adrenal lesions mimicking malignancy on MR imaging: report of two cases

Two cases of nonmalignant adrenal masses with prolonged T2 relaxation time and increased adrenal/liver signal ratios are reported. These two cases, one a functioning adenoma with small areas of hemorrhage and the other tuberculosis, emphasize that increased signal intensity in an adrenal mass on T2-weighted images is not always due to malignancy or a pheochromocytoma. While the signal characteristics of an adrenal mass are useful in distinguishing malignancy or pheochromocytoma from benign adenomas, other studies (such as computed tomography for the detection of hemorrhage), clinical evaluation, and percutaneous biopsy remain useful in the investigation of an adrenal mass.