If treatment of the pituitary gland abnormality is not successful, removal of the adrenal glands may be required. The patients with this type of adrenal dysfunction are usually children who present with sex hormone abnormalities and inappropriate genital growth. A pediatric endocrinologist will evaluate these patients through CT and urine collections. The patient with the incidentally discovered adrenal mass must be carefully evaluated looking at the family history, personal history, evaluation of the image and by chemical evaluation is mentioned above. In an asymptomatic mass the physician must consider the possibility of a very rare form of primary cancer within the adrenal gland.
Adrenal cancer is very deadly and rapidly progressive.
Most patients with an adrenal mass of less than 3 centimeters have very little to worry about concerning the diagnosis of cancer. These patients should have a follow-up CT scan within six months and, if any growth or symptoms develop, consider resection. The prevailing opinion about non-functional adrenal masses over 4 to 5 centimeters is that they should be removed.