in medicine, an incidentaloma is a tumor (-oma) found by coincidence (incidentally) without clinical symptoms or suspicion. like other types of incidental findings, it is found during the course of examination and imaging for other reasons. it is a common problem: up to 7% of all patients over 60 may harbor a benign growth, often of the adrenal gland, which is detected when diagnostic imaging is used for the analysis of unrelated symptoms. with the increase of "whole-body ct scanning" as part of health screening programs, the chance of finding incidentalomas is expected to increase. 37% of patients receiving whole-body ct scan may have abnormal findings that need further evaluation. as many incidentally found lesions may never cause disease, there is a risk of overdiagnosis. when faced with an unexpected finding on diagnostic imaging, the clinician faces the challenge to prove that the lesion is indeed harmless. often, some other tests are required to determine the exact nature of an incidentaloma. == adrenal incidentaloma == incidental adrenal masses on imaging are common (0.6 to 1.3% of all abdominal ct). differential diagnosis include adenoma, myelolipoma, cyst, lipoma, pheochromocytoma, adrenal cancer, metastatic cancer, hyperplasia, and tuberculosis. some of these lesions are easily identified by radiographic appearance; however, it is often adenoma vs. cancer/metastasis that is most difficult to distinguish. thus, clinical guidelines have been developed to aid in diagnosis and decision-making. the first considerations are size and radiographic appearance of the mass. suspicious adrenal masses or those â¥4 cm are recommended for complete removal by adrenalectomy. masses <4 cm may also be recommended for removal if they are found to be hormonally active, but are otherwise recommended for observation. all adrenal masses should receive hormonal evaluation. hormonal evaluation includes:{{c
Endocrine_diseases Oncology Radiology Unnecessary_health_care