Ectopic adrenal tissue in adults

Abstract

Summary

Ectopic adrenal tissue of spermatic cord in a 3- year- old boy, an incidental finding during orchidopexy: A case report

“…It is believed that in 50% of newborns, ectopic adrenal tissue can be encountered [1,9]. Aging process leads to its atrophy, so it remains intact in rare cases only [1,9].…”

“…It is believed that in 50% of newborns, ectopic adrenal tissue can be encountered [1,9]. Aging process leads to its atrophy, so it remains intact in rare cases only [1,9]. Explanation of adrenal tissue displacement in spermatic cord lies in the fact that gonads and adrenal primordium are spatially close to one another during embryological development and therefore, some of adrenal cortical cells separate and join gonadal tissue during its descending [3].…”

“…If the event occurs before junction of medulla and cortex, only cortical tissue is found in ectopic sites [11]. Ectopic adrenal tissue usually causes no symptoms, however, hyperplasia, adenomatous and neoplastic changes of the tissue can occur, leading to development of paraganglioma, adrenocortical carcinoma, pheocromocytoma, adrenal adenoma or Leydig cell's tumor [3,6,9,12]. It usually remains indolent concerning hormonal production, still cases of hormonally active ectopic adrenal tissue were mentioned in the literature, pointing out to possible Cushing's syndrome development [6,10].…”

“…Other sites where ectopic adrenal tissue has been noticed include: kidney, placenta, ovary, mesosalpinx, coeliac axis, lungs, liver, intracranial lesions, pancreas, colon, stomach, retroperitoneum, supradiaphragmatic area [1][2][3][4][5]. It is usually benign asymptomatic entity [4,6,7] and therefore, mostly incidentally found while performing surgical procedure [4,5,8,9]. We report a case of ectopic adrenal tissue of spermatic cord in a 3-year-old boy, incidentally found during orchidopexy of the right testicle.…”

Evaluation of children with inguinoscrotal ectopic adrenal tissues

“…These cells, originating from neural crest cells, then migrate to the primitive cortex structure. Encapsulation of the medulla occurs in the late stages of fetal growth (2)(3)(4).…”