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Adrenal Cyst

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Pathology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Pathology ((EP))

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Definition

Adrenal cysts are tumefactive cystic lesions of the adrenal gland that primarily involve the cortex. They have been classified into four major types: endothelial cysts, epithelial cysts, parasitic cysts, and pseudocysts (Abershause et al. 1959).

Clinical Features

Adrenal cysts are usually found incidentally. Patients may occasionally present with nonspecific signs and symptoms including flank pain, epigastric distress, and vomiting. At times, cysts may be palpable.

  • Incidence

    Adrenal cysts are rare with a reported frequency at autopsy of 0.06% (Lack 2007). Endothelial cysts and pseudocysts are the most common types and comprise up to 45% and 39% of the cases, respectively. Epithelial cysts are mainly mesothelial-type inclusion cysts and constitute less than 10% of adrenal cysts. Parasitic cysts are generally part of disseminated echinococcal infection and account for 7% of the cases (Erickson et al. 2004).

  • Age

    Adrenal cysts are most frequently detected in the fifth and sixth...

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References and Further Reading

  • Abershause, G. A., Goldstein, R. B., & Abeshouse, B. S. (1959). Adrenal cysts: Review of the literature and report of three cases. The Journal of Urology, 81, 711–719.

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  • Cavallaro, G., Crocetti, D., Paliotta, A., De Gori, A., Tarallo, M. R., Letizia, C., & De Toma, G. (2015). Cystic adrenal lesions: Clinical and surgical management. The experience of a referral centre. International Journal of Surgery, 13, 23–26.

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  • El-Hefnawy, A. S., EI Garba, M., Osman, Y., Eraky, I., El Mekresh, M., & Ibrahim, e.-H. (2009). Surgical management of adrenal cysts: Single-institution experience. BJU International, 104, 847–850.

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  • Erickson, L. A., Lloyd, R. V., Hartman, R., & Thompson, G. (2004). Cystic adrenal neoplasms. Cancer, 101, 1537–1544.

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  • Lack, E. E. (Ed.). (2007). Atlas of tumour pathology: tumors of the adrenal gland and extra-adrenal paraganglia (Fascicle 19, series 3). Washington, DC: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

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  • Zheng, W., Fung, K. M., Cheng, L., & Osunkoya, A. O. (2018). Benign vascular tumors, cysts, and pseudocysts of the adrenal gland: A contemporary multi-institutional clinicopathological analysis of 55 cases. Human Pathology, 82, 95–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pathological Anatomy Section, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Ilaria Camilla Galli & Gabriella Nesi

  2. Pathological Anatomy Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy

    Raffaella Santi

Authors
  1. Ilaria Camilla Galli
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  2. Raffaella Santi
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  3. Gabriella Nesi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriella Nesi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands

    J.H.J.M. van Krieken

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Galli, I.C., Santi, R., Nesi, G. (2020). Adrenal Cyst. In: van Krieken, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5231-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5231-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

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