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Case Reports
. 2020 Dec 14:2020:7415762.
doi: 10.1155/2020/7415762. eCollection 2020.

Functional Adrenal Collision Tumor in a Patient with Cushing's Syndrome

Cathy Zhou  1 , Ghaneh Fananapazir  1 , Michael J Campbell  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Functional Adrenal Collision Tumor in a Patient with Cushing's Syndrome

Cathy Zhou et al. Case Rep Endocrinol. .

Abstract

Adrenal collision tumors are rare and produce unique diagnostic challenges for clinicians. We report the case of a 45-year-old woman with obesity and diabetes mellitus and an incidentally-discovered adrenal mass containing macroscopic fat, thought to be a myelolipoma. A functional workup confirmed adrenocorticotropic hormone- (ACTH-) independent Cushing's syndrome. The patient underwent a successful laparoscopic adrenalectomy with pathology showing an adrenal collision tumor consisting of an adrenocortical adenoma and a myelolipoma. Postoperatively, the clinical symptoms, body mass index, and hemoglobin A1C all improved. Clinicians should consider a functional workup in patients with radiographically diagnosed myelolipomas as some may prove to be hormonally active collision tumors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A CT for abdominal pain in November 2012 revealed a presumed adrenal myelolipoma with a focus of macroscopic fat (a). In comparing to a prior exam from April 2007 (b), this mass had grown in size, and subsequent imaging from April 2016 (c) continued to demonstrate growth.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The surgical specimen demonstrates the characteristic macroscopic fat component of the myelolipoma with an adjacent well-circumscribed solid golden yellow adenoma.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Patient weight and hemoglobin A1C graphed over time.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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