The Etiological Profile of Adrenal Incidentalomas

Introduction An adrenal incidentaloma (AI) is an unsuspected tumor in one or both adrenal glands, which is discovered incidentally on an imaging exam not prompted by adrenal exploration. The etiologies can be multiple; they condition therapeutic management. The objective of our study is to describe the etiological and therapeutic profiles of AI in our department. Materials and methods A retrospective study was carried out in the Endocrinology, Diabetology, and Nutrition Department of the Hassan II University Hospital of Fez on patients managed for AI from September 2009 until March 2022. We included all the patients who were followed and/or hospitalized for adrenal incidentalomas. Results There were 86, predominantly female, patients (67.85%). The mean age was 58.91+/-14.40 years. The clinical findings were a unilateral adrenal mass in 73.25% of patients, localized on the left in 39.53%, on the right in 33.72%, and a bilateral one in 26.75%. Its size varied from 12 to 196 mm, with an average of 35.5 mm. The most common etiologies found in our series were a non-functional adrenal adenoma in 54.56%, a subclinical cortisolic adenoma in 19.76%, an adrenocortical carcinoma in 5.81%, and a pheochromocytoma in 5.81%. Adrenalectomy was indicated in 19.76% of our patients, 17.44% were monitored closely, 20.94% were monitored for comorbidities, and 41.86% had been advised to abstain from treatment. Conclusion An adrenal incidentaloma has become more and more frequent. It constitutes an entity with various etiologies, which can be serious. The main etiology in our series was non-functioning adrenal adenoma, for which therapeutic abstention was indicated in 48% of cases.