| ISSN |
1949-8470 (online) |
| Open Access |
This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ |
| Copyright |
©Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2026. No commercial re-use. See Permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. |
| Article Reprints |
For details, please visit: http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/247
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| Permissions |
For details, please visit: http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/207
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| Publisher |
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA |
| Website |
http://www.wjgnet.com |
| Category |
Endocrinology & Metabolism |
| Manuscript Type |
Minireviews |
| Article Title |
Evaluation of adrenal incidentalomas: Current approaches, caveats, and unexplored issues
|
| Manuscript Source |
Invited Manuscript |
| All Author List |
Eleni Kouroglou, Vasiliki Tsiama, Evaggelia Stroumpouli, Christos Savvidis, Efthymia Kallistrou, Dimitra Ragia, Dimitra Motsiou, Stella Proikaki, Konstantinos Belis and Ioannis Ilias |
| ORCID |
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| Funding Agency and Grant Number |
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| Corresponding Author |
Ioannis Ilias, Director, MD, PhD, Department of Endocrinology, Hippocration General Hospital, No. 63 Evrou Street, Athens GR-11527, Greece. iiliasmd@yahoo.com |
| Key Words |
Adrenal incidentaloma; Mild autonomous cortisol secretion; Non-contrast computed tomography attenuation; Adrenal washout computed tomography; Adrenal venous sampling; Cardiometabolic risk |
| Core Tip |
Incidental adrenal masses are increasingly identified through modern imaging, and physicians must differentiate benign from malignant lesions while excluding hormonal hypersecretion. Mild autonomous cortisol secretion is common and carries cardiometabolic/skeletal risks, warranting biochemical evaluation. Current evidence supports a conservative radiologic approach: Homogeneous adrenal lesions with non-contrast computed tomography attenuation ≤ 10 Hounsfield units are considered benign, and emerging data suggest this threshold may safely extend to ≤ 20 Hounsfield units. The utility of adrenal washout computed tomography is increasingly questioned due to its poor discrimination of pheochromocytoma and limited cost-effectiveness. Future research should address psychiatric consequences and novel etiological factors. |
| Publish Date |
2026-04-24 02:48 |
| Citation |
Kouroglou E, Tsiama V, Stroumpouli E, Savvidis C, Kallistrou E, Ragia D, Motsiou D, Proikaki S, Belis K, Ilias I. Evaluation of adrenal incidentalomas: Current approaches, caveats, and unexplored issues. World J Radiol 2026; 18(4): 119833 |
| URL |
https://www.wjgnet.com/1949-8470/full/v18/i4/119833.htm |
| DOI |
https://dx.doi.org/10.4329/wjr.v18.i4.119833 |
