Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients with Non-functional Adrenal Incidentalomas

Abstract

The frequency of detecting adrenal masses is increasing day by day. The basic approach is to evaluate whether these masses are hormonally active or not and to evaluate if they have malignant potential. There are doubts that most of these masses, which are known to be nonfunctional, produce some active metabolites. In this study, we aimed to investigate the cardiovascular risk factors of nonfunctional adrenal incidentalomas.Methods: 305 patients who were admitted to the Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases Polyclinics with an incidentally detected adrenal mass between January 2006 and 2011 were included. Demographic characteristics, co-morbidities, drugs, and laboratory parameters were analyzed retrospectively. It was divided into two groups. Our group with nonfunctional adrenal adenoma, were compared with a community-based study; Turkey Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity and Endocrinology Diseases Prevalence Study-2 (TURDEP-2).Results: Adrenal masses were divided into two groups as functional and non-functional. The patients in the first group were younger (46.2±12.1 years, p=0.0001), had larger masses with malignant appearance. The patients in the second group were compared with TURDEP-2. When the patients with non-functional adrenal adenoma compared with the general community, hypertension and obesity were observed more frequently in our patient group; 66.2%-31.3% and 61.8%-36%, respectively. Conclusion:It is controversial whether non-functional adrenal incidentalomas increase cardiovascular risk or not. Subclinical Cushing Syndrome is the most common hormonal disorder. The insidious cortisol autonomy is thought to be responsible for this. In our study, cases with nonfunctional adrenal mass were found to be more obese and hypertensive compared to the general population.