title: Adrenal lesions assessed in the era of laparoscopic adrenalectomy: a modern day series.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To evaluate if laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) has changed the indications for adrenalectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of patients with adrenal lesions referred from 1992 to 2004. Patients were divided into 2 groups, those before and those after the introduction of LA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred eighty patients were assessed. Functioning lesions were found in 120 (66%) patients. Sixty patients had nonfunctioning tumors. Before the introduction of LA, 13% had primary hyperaldosteronism (PA), 23% had pheochromocytoma (Pheo), 20% had Cushing's syndrome (CS), and 7% had adrenal cortical cancer (ACC). No difference was seen in the percentage of patients referred after LA with Pheo (20%), CS (16%), or ACC (6%). There was, however, a significant increase in the percentage of patients referred with PA after introducing LA (13% vs. 27%), P < .05.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Indications for adrenalectomy have not changed since introduction of LA. There was, however, an increased percentage of patients with PA referred since the introduction of LA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Calgary, 1403 29th St. N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 2T9.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chavez-Rodriguez
authors.forename: Janice L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pasieka
mesh_terms: D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D000315:Adrenalectomy / Q000379:methods*; D003480:Cushing Syndrome / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006929:Hyperaldosteronism / Q000601:surgery; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008297:Male; D010673:Pheochromocytoma / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome