title: Hepatic metastasis from adrenocortical carcinoma fifteen years after primary resection.
abstract: We report the case of a 73-year-old man who presented with an asymptomatic hepatic mass during investigation of mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by a plain chest radiograph, followed by ultrasonography, which revealed a solitary hepatic lesion measuring 7.1 cm × 6.5 cm × 5.8 cm in dimension. Fine- needle aspiration of the mass revealed malignant cells compatible with hepatocellular carcinoma. Interestingly, the patient had a left adrenalectomy and complete left nephrectomy in 1987, for a non-functioning left adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). The ACC was diagnosed as stage two, with no evidence of local invasion or distant metastases. No adjuvant therapy was recommended postoperatively. After a five-year follow-up, there was no evidence of ACC recurrence and the patient was declared cured from his ACC. The patient underwent a complete segmental resection of the right lobe of the liver successfully. The final diagnosis of the mass was a well-differentiated metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Division of Gastroenterology, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mawardi
authors.forename: Bandar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Al-Judaibi
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marotta
mesh_terms: D000306:Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D000315:Adrenalectomy; D018268:Adrenocortical Carcinoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D009392:Nephrectomy; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed