
, Jung Hee Kim
Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Copyright © 2023 Korean Endocrine Society
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| Remarks | 2023 ESE guideline | 2016 ESE guideline | 2017 KES guideline | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category for serum cortisol after 1-mg DST | Recommend: MACS |
Suggest: possible ACS |
Similar to the 2016 ESE guidelines | |
| Confirm ACTH-independency, repeat DST, consider conditions that alter the results | ACS |
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| Additional biochemical tests to assess the degree of cortisol secretion might be useful |
Additional biochemical tests might be required |
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| Treatment for patients with MACS | Recommend |
Suggest |
NA | |
| Measurement of sex hormone and steroid precursors | Suggest: ideally, use multi-steroid profiling by tandem mass spectrometry |
Suggest |
Recommend |
|
| Benign criteria for no further imaging | Recommend |
Suggest |
Homogeneous appearance, smaller than 4 cm |
|
| Management of indeterminate adrenal nodules | (1) Adrenal mass with unenhanced HU between 11 and 20 and <4 cm |
Three options |
Recommend: follow-up imaging in 3–6 months after the initial study and continuing for 1–2 years |
|
| Suggest: immediate additional imaging to avoid any follow-up imaging. | (1) Immediate additional imaging with another modality | |||
| Optional: interval imaging in 12 months by non-contrast CT (or MRI) | (2) Interval imaging in 6 to 12 months (non-contrast CT or MRI) | |||
| (2) Adrenal mass ≥4 cm and unenhanced >20 HU |
(3) Surgery without further delay. | Consider adrenalectomy |
||
| Suggest: MDT, immediate surgery/staging | ||||
| Optional: follow-up imaging in 6–12 months | ||||
| (3) Adrenal mass ≥4 cm with unenhanced HU 11–20; or <4 cm with unenhanced HU >20; or tumor size <4 cm with heterogeneous appearance | ||||
| Suggest: individualized approach in MDT | ||||
| Surgical treatment | Recommend: surgery by an expert high-volume adrenal surgeon |
NA | NA | |
| Suggest: surgical resection if indeterminate adrenal mass on imaging in children, adolescents, pregnant women and adults <40 years of age |
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| Hormone follow-up of nonfunctioning tumors at initial evaluation | Recommend: against |
Suggest: against |
Recommend |
|
| Follow-up of patients with MACS | Recommend: only annual re-assessment of comorbidities potentially attributable to cortisol. | Suggest: annual clinical re-assessment for comorbidities potentially related to cortisol excess. Based on the outcome of this evaluation the potential benefit of surgery should be considered. | Recommend: annual hormone tests for 4–5 years | |
| If these comorbidities develop or worsen, referral to an endocrinologist. | ||||
| Approach to bilateral adrenal incidentaloma | Suggest following four-option schema |
The same applies to the assessment of comorbidities that might be related to ACS. | Similar to the 2016 ESE guideline | |
| Bilateral (macronodular) hyperplasia or bilateral adenomas: recommend assessment of comorbidities attributable to MACS |
Bilateral hyperplasia without ACS: 17-hydroxyprogesterone | |||
| Otherwise, similar to the 2016 ESE guideline | Bilateral metastases, lymphoma, infiltrative inflammatory disease and hemorrhages: recommend assessment for adrenal insufficiency | |||
| Treatment for bilateral adrenal incidentaloma | (1) Bilateral hyperplasi |
Suggest |
NA | |
| (2) Suggest against bilateral adrenalectomy |
Suggest that bilateral adrenalectomy is not performed |
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Modified from Fassnacht et al. [ ESE, European Society of Endocrinology; KES, Korean Endocrine Society; DST, dexamethasone suppression test; MACS, mild autonomous cortisol secretion; ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone; ACS, autonomous cortisol secretion; MDT, multidisciplinary team; NA, not available; HU, Hounsfield unit; CT, computed tomography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging. Relevant changes.