Axial noncontrast CT image showing a well-demarcated soft-tissue density right adrenal mass (white arrow) containing some minute hypodense foci within it (yellow arrows). No calcifications were seen (a color version of the figure is available online). Photo: Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the University of Washington.
Rarely, retroperitoneal liposarcomas may clinically and biochemically mimic pheochromocytomas. Precisely doctors found a clinical case like this one, where Puerto Rican authors participated.
It was a 56-year-old Afro-Trinidadian woman with a history of three months with symptoms of weaknessintermittent sweating, difficulty sleeping, and increased blood pressure.
After two weeks of an antihypertensive regimen oral, blood pressure levels were still elevated and he complained of new pain abdomen on the right side.
CT scan of your abdomen revealed a heterogeneous massright adrenal, suspicious for pheochromocytoma.
Levels of urinary catecholamines—hormones produced by the adrenal glands—were also elevated, and an MRI of her abdomen revealed a diagnosis of pheochromocytoma, although intralesional fat, a rare feature of pheochromocytomas, was noted, the case reports.
Axial T2-weighted magnetic resonance image showing a well-demarcated, heterogeneous, mildly hyperintense right adrenal lesion (white arrow). Photo: Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the University of Washington.
Axial T2-weighted magnetic resonance image showing a well-demarcated, heterogeneous, mildly hyperintense right adrenal lesion (white arrow). Photo: Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the University of Washington.
Axial in-phase (left) and out-of-phase (right) T1-weighted MR images reveal foci of high signal T1 within the right adrenal mass (yellow arrows) on the in-phase image, demonstrating signal dropout (blue arrows) on the out-of-phase image, consistent with intralesional fat (the color version of the figure is available online). Photo: Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the University of Washington.
Coronal T2-weighted magnetic resonance image demonstrating the relationship of the right adrenal mass (white arrow) to the right kidney (red arrow), the right adrenal gland (black arrow), and the right lobe of the liver (the color version of the figure is available online). Photo: Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the University of Washington.
Histological analysis of the resected specimen confirmed liposarcoma dedifferentiated retroperitoneal, the authors confirmed, although they added that while the imaging characteristics of the Pheochromocytomas and retroperitoneal liposarcomas may be similar, the presence of intralesional fat lesions in the studies carried out should favor the diagnosis of a retroperitoneal liposarcomathey hold.
Liposarcoma is and tumor malignant derived from adipose tissue, which represents the most frequent variety within soft tissue sarcomas of the retroperitoneum, although globally it only accounts for 0.1% of all neoplasms.
Whereas, a pheochromocytoma is A tumor rare that usually begins in the cells of one of the adrenal glands. Although they are usually benign, they often cause the adrenal gland to produce too many hormones.
In conclusion, although retroperitoneal liposarcomas are unusual, they can rarely masquerade as a pheochromocytoma, the authors state.
Access the case here.
