MR imaging in adrenal diseases

Twenty-five patients affected by adrenal glands pathology underwent CT and MRI: 6 nonfuctioning adenomas, 2 Cushing's adenomas, 2 Conn's adenomas, 6 metastases, 3 cystis, 2 carcinomas (Cushing's syndrome), 1 Lymphoma and 3 pheochromocytomas. Diagnosis was subsequently confirmed either at surgery, or autopsy, or with needle biopsy. In all cases normal adrenal glands and pathological lesions were showed by MRI. T1 signal intensity and mass diameter were compared with T2 signal intensity, represented by the intensity ratio between the adrenal mass vs normal hepatic parenchyma. MRI signal intensity, usually high in case of malignancy and low in adenomas, shows a mean value which is much wider than that referred to mass diameter evaluation (carcinoma is larger than adenoma); for this reason those findings have proved to be insufficiently accurate for adrenal tissue characterization, even for the evaluation of cysts and pheochromocytomas. In the same cases CT showed higher accuracy