title: Evaluation of incidentally discovered adrenal masses with PET and PET/CT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Incidentally discovered adrenal masses are commonly seen with high resolution diagnostic imaging performed for indications other than adrenal disease. Although the majority of these masses are benign and non-secretory, their unexpected discovery prompts further biochemical and often repeated imaging evaluations, sufficient to identify hormonally active adrenal masses and/or primary or metastatic neoplasms to the adrenal(s). In the present paper we investigate the role of PET and PET/CT for the detection of adrenal incidentalomas in comparison with CT and MRI.
  
  
  METHODS
  a systematic revision of the papers published in PubMed/Medline until September 2010 was done.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The diagnostic imaging approach to incidentally discovered adrenal masses includes computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and more recently positron emission tomography (PET) with radiopharmaceuticals designed to exploit mechanisms of cellular metabolism, adrenal substrate precursor uptake, or receptor binding.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The functional maps created by PET imaging agents and the anatomic information provided by near-simultaneously acquired, co-registered CT facilitates localization and diagnosis of adrenal dysfunction, distinguishes unilateral from bilateral disease, and aids in characterizing malignant primary and metastatic adrenal disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Veterans Affairs Hospital, and University of Michigan Health System, Department of Radiology, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA. kakitw@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ka Kit
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arabi
authors.forename: Wessam
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bou-Assaly
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Marzola
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rubello
authors.forename: Milton D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gross
mesh_terms: D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003287:Contrast Media; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals