Adrenal phaeochromocytoma: right adrenal tumour demonstrated by CT and MRI.
Most adrenal phaeochromocytomas can be detected by CT because they are usually 3cm or more in size. The enhanced CT scan (a) shows an inhomogeneous, predominantly low density 5cm mass replacing the right adrenal gland. Small tumours may show uniform contrast enhancement. Larger tumours often show areas of low density due to tumour necrosis, as in this case. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can also demonstrate adrenal masses well. Phaeochromocytomas show most clearly on MRI in the T2-weighted images as a mass with high signal, as in scan (b).
