Abstract
Adrenal sonogram and computed tomography (CT) studies were carried out as a part of the diagnostic workup either for evaluation of the cause of elevated androgen levels or to look for autonomously functioning adenomatous adrenal lesions in patients with proven classical or nonclassical steroid 21-hydroxylase deficiency (21-OH def) congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). Sonograms revealed unequivocally hyperplastic adrenal glands in 2 neonates with female pseudohermaphroditism due to classical CAH and in 1 inadequately treated 9-year-old child with classical CAH.
Adrenal CT was performed in 12 patients. These CT studies revealed massively macronodular, hyperplastic adrenals in a 30-year-old patient with untreated classical CAH and markedly enlarged adrenals in 4 patients with poorly treated classical CAH, while mildly hyperplastic adrenals were seen in 4 of 7 patients with nonclassical (mild) CAH.
Thus, sonographic and CT examination of the adrenal glands exhibited unequivocal evidence of bilateral adrenal hyperplasia in classical 21-OH def CAH, indicating the usefulness of these studies in expediting the diagnosis of classical CAH. However, the CT evaluation in the nonclassical form of CAH is not consistently useful in imaging adrenal hyperplasia.
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Engel, I., Pang, S. & New, M. ADRENAL SONOGRAPHY AND COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF CLASSICAL AND NONCLASSICAL 21-HYDROXYLASE DEFICIENCY CONGENITAL ADRENAL HYPERPLASIA. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 167 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00443
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00443