A case of adrenal cavernous hemangioma presenting with progressive enlargement and apparent hormonal hypersecretion

Abstract

Objective: To report the case of a man with an adrenal cavernous hemangioma presenting as a progressively enlarging adrenal mass with apparent hormonal hypersecretion.

Methods: We report the clinical, laboratory, imaging findings, and clinical course of this patient, and we highlight the important atypical features of this case. The literature is reviewed for the typical presentations of adrenal cavernous hemangiomas.

Results: A 59-year-old man presented with an adrenal incidentaloma that had an imaging phenotype suggestive of a pheochromocytoma or an adrenal carcinoma. The hormonal profile also suggested a state of aldosterone and catecholamine hypersecretion. Surgery, however, proved the diagnosis to be an adrenal cavernous hemangioma.

Conclusion: Although adrenal cavernous hemangioma is a rare entity, it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of an adrenal incidentaloma. Its radiologic features are not specific, and the presence of hormonal hypersecretion does not exclude the diagnosis.