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Updated: Jul 12, 2025

A Novel Method: Super-selective Adrenal Venous Sampling
Published on: September 15, 2017
Metastatic Merkel Cell Carcinoma Within a Cortisol-producing Adrenal Adenoma
Lauren Cutrone1, Jose Subauste2, Celso Gomez-Sanchez2
1Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39216, USA.
Abstract:
A 54-year-old man with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and a history of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) of the right thigh presented to the emergency department with a 4-day history of right lower-quadrant abdominal pain associated with constipation and decreased appetite. Workup showed a heterogenous 6-cm right adrenal mass with macroscopic fat. Imaging was suggestive of benign pathology. Hormonal workup for the adrenal nodule led to the diagnosis of Cushing syndrome. The patient underwent a right adrenalectomy for Cushing syndrome with pathology revealing a 6.5-cm adrenocortical adenoma harboring a 2-cm, well-circumscribed neuroendocrine tumor consistent with metastatic MCC. Adrenal collision tumors are exceedingly rare. This case describes a collision tumor that has not previously been identified-a cortisol-producing adrenal adenoma and metastatic MCC.
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