CT adrenals (protocol)

At the time the article was created Vikas Shah had no recorded disclosures.

Last revised: 20 Jul 2024, Rohit Sharma ◉ Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Rohit Sharma had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

Revisions: 7 times, by 5 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures Systems: Sections: Tags: Synonyms:

CT of the adrenal glands is a study utilized in patients with incidentally discovered adrenal lesions on other studies, in order to characterize the lesions, and to seek adrenal abnormalities in patients with hormonal biochemical abnormalities.

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Indications

Characterize incidentally discovered adrenal nodules and seek adrenal abnormalities when clinically suspected.

Purpose

To characterize adrenal nodules on the basis of the density on non-contrast and post-contrast imaging, and washout characteristics. Nodules with lipid density measurements on the non-contrast series can be diagnosed as lipid-rich adenomas, and in nodules that are not lipid-rich, washout calculations can be used to differentiate between lipid-poor adenomas and indeterminate lesions, with differentials for the latter including adrenocortical carcinoma and pheochromocytoma.

Technique