A pheochromocytoma case diagnosed as adrenal incidentaloma

Özet

There are two problems that needs to be addressed in cases of an adrenalincidentaloma. The first is to decide whether the adrenal mass is benign ormalignant, and the second is to determine whether the mass is hormonallyactive or not. A 17-year-old male was admitted with the complaint ofprogressive weight gain. Abdominal ultrasonography was performed forelevation in transaminases which revealed a hypoechoic mass located in theleft adrenal gland. Hormonal investigations revealed an increase in fractionatedcatecholamine and metanephrine levels in 24-hour urine. Surgery was performedand pathological examination was in accordance with pheochromocytoma.Mutation analysis was carried out. This is a rare case of pheochromocytomapresenting as adrenal incidentaloma during adolescence. In view of this case,we review the approach to incidentally discovered adrenal masses and theapproach to pheochromocytoma. A mutation analysis should be performed onall cases with pheochromocytoma that are diagnosed below age 20.