Endocrine Abstracts

The frequency of adrenal masses is increasing in parallel with the progress of the technology. Most of these masses, which are detected by chance, are not functional, and only a part of them are exposed to an excess of hormone. The most common dysfunction in masses with hormonal activity is hypercortisolism. However, the diagnosis of Cushing’s disease is based on more than one test. In this study, we intended to compare the values of screening tests to determine whether the presence of a unilateral mass or bilateral mass would help in the diagnosis.

Materials and methods: Adrenal masses were detected in our clinic and 143 patients who were followed up were evaluated. 112 of these patients have unilateral adrenal mass, 31 have bilateral adrenal masses. Twenty (17.8%) of 112 unilateral adrenal masses and 15 (51.6%) of the patients with bilateral adrenal masses were diagnosed as Cushing. The 1 mg overnight dexametasone suppression test (DST), 2 days 2 mg dexametasone suppression test (Liddle test), and 24-h urine cortisol levels used for diagnosis in these patients were compared. Averages of tests were taken multiple times.

Conclusion: The mean age of the patients with bilateral and unilateral adrenal masses was around 60. When the mean values of 1 mg DST, Liddle test and 24 h urine were compared, no statistically significant difference was found between the two groups.

Comment: In the case of Cushing’s syndrome, the adrenal glands on one side or on both adrenal glands are not diagnostic in terms of diagnosis.