Large bilateral non-functional adrenal myelolipomas: A rare case report

Abstract

Myelolipomas are rare, benign, and non-functional neuroendocrine tumors that are usually discovered incidentally. The widespread use of imaging modalities has increased the detection of incidental tumors over the last decades. Most myelolipomas are small, unilateral, and asymptomatic. Occasionally, tumors grow over time and become symptomatic due to the mass effect on adjacent structures. As a therapeutic approach, surgery is known as the standard treatment for symptomatic or large lesions. We report a patient presented with persisted abdominal pain which had been initiated two months ago. Ultrasonography examination showed large, bilateral, and well-defined hyperechoic lesions without calcification in both adrenal glands. Tumors were non-functional with hormone secretion-wise. After laparoscopic resection, on the macroscopic examination, two adrenal lesions with 60×50×40 mm and 35×30×10 mm size, respectively, were observed. The subsequent microscopic assessment also confirmed the diagnosis of bilateral adrenal myelolipomas.

Keywords: Adrenalectomy, Endocrinology, Myelolipoma, Neoplasms