Effectiveness of 131I nor-cholesterol Uptake per Unit Volume of Adrenal Adenoma in the Diagnosis of Aldosteronoma

• Published in: RADIOISOTOPES 2010, Vol.59(9), pp.541-547
• Main Authors: KITA, Tamotsu, TOMITA, Hiroko, SAKAGUCHI, Chiharu, YANO, Fuzuki, SHIOMI, Eisuke, KAWAUCHI, Toshio, HAYASHI, Katsumi, NAKAI, Kanji, SHINMOTO, Hiroshi, KOSUDA, Shigeru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 131I nor-cholesterol; adrenal adenoma; aldosteronoma; diagnosis; uptake per unit volume
• ISSN: 0033-8303; 1884-4111
• DOI: 10.3769/radioisotopes.59.541

Diagnosis of adrenal adenomas for patients with primary aldosteronism is sometimes difficult only by referring to the visualization pattern in adrenocortical scintigraphy without regards to standard scintigraphy or suppression scintigraphy with dexamethasone. We studied if quantitative evaluation of the standard scintigraphy without dexamethasone suppression can be useful to diagnose aldosteronomas. Twenty-nine patients who had undergone adrenalectomy with different clinical manifestations (16 patients with primary aldosteronism, 6 patients with Cushing's syndrome and 7 patients without hormonal abnormality) were included in the study. Volume of the adrenocortical adenomas, 131I nor-cholesterol uptake of the adrenocortical adenomas, and 131I nor-cholesterol uptake per unit volume of the adrenocortical adenomas were compared between the 3 groups. The volume of adrenocortical adenomas in the patients with primary aldosteronism was significantly lower than those in the other two groups (Cushing's syndrome p