MON-222 Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Morbidity, and Overall Mortality in Patients with Adrenal Adenomas: A Population-Based Study of 1,003 Patients
Authors: Zhang Catherine D , Atkinson Elizabeth J , Achenbach Sara J , Ebbehøj Andreas Ladefoged , Li Dingfeng , Kaur Ravinder Jeet , Singh Sumitabh , Rocca Walter A , Bancos Irina 
Published: May 2020

Background: Benign adrenal tumors are frequently diagnosed on imaging and may pose health risks to patients regardless of functional status. Both non-functioning adrenal tumors (NFAT) and tumors with mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS) have been associated with increased cardiovascular events and risk factors. However, limited data exist on the association of adrenal adenomas with cardiometabolic outcomes in the population-based setting.

Aim: 1) To determine the prevalence of cardiovascular co-morbidities and events and 2) to assess mortality in a population-based cohort of patients with adrenal adenomas.

Methods: We identified adult patients living in the community diagnosed with an adrenal tumor from 1995-2017 using a medical records linkage system. Adrenal tumors were classified as MACS if cortisol was ≥1.8mcg/dL after 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test, NFAT if cortisol was &lt;1.8 mcg/dL, and adenoma with unknown cortisol secretion (AUCS) if dexamethasone suppression test was not performed. Cardiovascular co-morbidities and events were assessed at baseline. Patients were then followed until death, migration out of the community, or through December 31, 2018. Results were compared to age and sex matched reference subjects without adrenal tumors and adjusted for tobacco use and BMI.

Results: A total of 1,003 patients had adrenal adenomas with 136 (14%) NFAT, 86 (9%) MACS, and 781 (78%) AUCS. The median age of diagnosis was 63 years (range, 20-96) and 581 (58%) were women. At baseline, patients with adrenal adenomas were more likely to have hypertension (92% vs 81%, p&lt;0.001), overweight/obesity (89% vs 82%, p&lt;0.001), pre-diabetes/diabetes (82% vs 70%, p&lt;0.001), dyslipidemia (89% vs 82%, p&lt;0.001), and chronic kidney disease (11% vs 7%, p=0.004) than age and sex matched reference subjects. Myocardial infarctions (13% vs 8%, p &lt;0.001), coronary intervention (9% vs 6%, p= 0.007), heart failure (12% vs 6%, p&lt;0.001), peripheral vascular disease (26% vs 15%, p&lt;0.001), and thromboembolic disease (7% vs 3%, p&lt;0.001) were more prevalent in patients with adrenal adenomas, whereas overall survival was lower compared to reference subjects (60% vs 65%, p value = 0.013). Subgroup analysis (adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and smoking) demonstrated prevalence of cardiovascular events including peripheral vascular disease was highest in those with MACS (44.7%), followed by AUCS (40.1%), and then NFAT (36.6%), although differences between groups were not significant. Overall survival was lower in patients with MACS (62%) and AUCS (59%) compared to NFAT (71%), p&lt;0.001.

Conclusions: Adrenal adenomas are associated with significantly higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and morbidity at the time of diagnosis and with increased morality during follow-up. Results are potentially related to abnormal cortisol secretion but are limited by suboptimal evaluation for hormone excess.