Computed tomography after adrenalectomy in adrenal cortical carcinoma

This report deals with the follow-up diagnostic evaluation of 18 patients previously treated for adrenal cortical carcinoma. The role of computed tomography is emphasized. Nine patients had adrenalectomy and the other 9 had adrenalectomy and ipsilateral nephrectomy. The left kidney and adrenal were removed in 8 patients. The patients were evaluated for 2-59 months with an average follow-up of 16 months. Of the 13 patients (72%) who had recurrent or metastatic disease, 8 experienced local recurrence in the adrenal fossa, 2 of whom had associated renal involvement. The recurrence was seen in 5 patients in the left and in 3 patients in the right side. Metastases occurred in the lung (7 patients), liver (3 patients), peritoneum (2 patients), paraaortic lymph nodes (3 patients), and bone (1 patient). At the time of the discovery of recurrence or metastases, 5 patients presented with lung metastases found on chest x-rays, 3 had recurrent Cushing's syndrome or hypertension, 3 had abdominal pain, 1 had weight loss, and 1 was asymptomatic.