Abstract

During a period of 7 years (from 1989 to 1995), out of 209 patients with tumours of the adrenal gland operated on at the Department of Vascular Surgery and Transplantology, seven (3.35%) had histologically confirmed myelolipomas. All cases presented as an incidental finding during USG or CT scanning performed for another reason unrelated to the existence of the tumor ('adrenal incidentaloma'). There was no biochemical evidence of adrenal cortical or medullary hormone hypersecretion. The patients' ages ranged from 37 to 64 years (mean, 51) and all patients were female. Five patients suffered from hypertension and five were obese. Tumor sizes ranged from 2 to 9 cm in diameter. Surgical excision employing a lateral extra-peritoneal approach was performed and tumour sizes ranged from to 2 to 9 cm in diameter. In two cases cholecystectomy was performed during the same procedure. The post-operative course was uneventful in all patients. Histo-pathological examination revealed myelolipoma in six cases. In one case the association of myelolipoma, cavernous haemangioma and adenoma was found in a single lesion. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such an association.

Keywords: Adrenal Gland Neoplasms, Myelolipoma, cavernous haemangioma