Clinical characters of childhood adrenocortical tumors
10.3760/cma.j.issn.1000-6699.2010.08.003
- VernacularTitle:儿童肾上腺皮质肿瘤的临床特征
- Author:
Qiuli CHEN
;
Zhe SU
;
Yanhong LI
;
Huamei MA
;
Hongshan CHEN
;
Minlian DU
;
Yufen GU
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Adrenal glands;
Cortical tumors;
Childhood
- From:
Chinese Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism
2010;26(8):639-642
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To analyze the clinical characters of childhood adrenocortical tumors, and to enhance the knowledge of diagnosis of this disease. Methods A retrospective analysis of clinical characters,laboratory tests,and imaging findings in 31 cases of childhood adrenocortical tumors was carried out. Results 16 cases of adenoma and 15 cases of carcinoma were included. The average age was (4.49±3.51) years old, and 67.7% of the patients were younger than 5 years old. The ratio of male to female was 1.0: 1.4. 12 patients presented only precocious sexual development, 4 patients presented only Cushing syndrome, 10 patients showed sexual precocity combined with Cushing syndrome, and 5 patients did not have any endocrine abnormalities. Raised testosterone level in 92.3% of these patients was the most common finding in laboratory tests. Only 12.5% of ultrasound images and 20.8% of CT images were consistent with pathologic diagnosis. Conclusions The clinical manifestations of adrenocortical tumors in childhood are precocious sexual development, Cushing's syndrome, or nonfunctional. The common laboratory findings are elevation of sex hormone and disorder of cortisol circadian rhythm. Precocious sexual development and elevation of androgens are more common in childhood adrenocortical tumor than those in adults. Imaging usually cannot give proper diagnosis. Final diagnosis should be established by clinical features, laboratory tests, imaging, and pathologic results.
