[Computer tomography in the diagnosis of adrenal lesions in arterial hypertension]

The method is based on reconstructing the image of the transverse section of the body on a television screen by means of a computer, depending on the capacity of the tissue to absorb X-rays. A cross-section is constructed on the basis of a large number of projections, where each tissue has its own color in a black-and-white or colour scale. The section obtained is topographo-anatomical and allows the shape, dimension, structure and mutual position of the internal organs to be clearly determined. Twenty one patients suspected of having various lesions of the adrenals were examined. Computer tomography revealed aldosteroma in 3, hyperplasia in 2, pheochromocytoma in 2, connective-tissue fibrosis in 1, carcinoma of the adrenal cortex in 1. No changes were found in 12 patients. Computer tomography makes it possible to clearly determine the size, shape and localization of the glands, but it cannot establish the nosological diagnosis, recording only the presence of a new growth.