Department of Animal Medicine, Production and Health, University of Padua, Legnaro, Italy.
ULTRAVET, San Giovanni in Persiceto, Bologna, Italy.
Vet Rec. 2023 Aug 5;193(3):e2949. doi: 10.1002/vetr.2949. Epub 2023 May 3.
The contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features of adrenal lesions are poorly reported in veterinary literature.
Qualitative and quantitative B-mode ultrasound and CEUS features of 186 benign (adenoma) and malignant (adenocarcinoma and pheochromocytoma) adrenal lesions were evaluated.
Adenocarcinomas (n = 72) and pheochromocytomas (n = 32) had mixed echogenicity with B-mode, and a non-homogeneous aspect with a diffused or peripheral enhancement pattern, hypoperfused areas, intralesional microcirculation and non-homogeneous wash-out with CEUS. Adenomas (n = 82) had mixed echogenicity, isoechogenicity or hypoechogenicity with B-mode, and a homogeneous or non-homogeneous aspect with a diffused enhancement pattern, hypoperfused areas, intralesional microcirculation and homogeneous wash-out with CEUS. With CEUS, a non-homogeneous aspect and the presence of hypoperfused areas and intralesional microcirculation can be used to distinguish between malignant (adenocarcinoma and pheochromocytoma) and benign (adenoma) adrenal lesions.
Lesions were characterised only by means of cytology.
CEUS examination is a valuable tool for distinction between benign and malignant adrenal lesions and can potentially differentiate pheochromocytomas from adenocarcinomas and adenomas. However, cytology and histology are necessary to obtain the final diagnosis.
兽医文献中鲜有关于肾上腺病变的超声造影（CEUS）特征的报道。
评估了 186 个良性（腺瘤）和恶性（腺癌和嗜铬细胞瘤）肾上腺病变的定性和定量 B 型超声及 CEUS 特征。
腺癌（n=72）和嗜铬细胞瘤（n=32）的 B 型超声表现为混合回声，CEUS 呈不均匀增强，表现为弥漫性或周边增强模式、低灌注区、瘤内微循环和不均匀廓清。腺瘤（n=82）的 B 型超声表现为混合回声、等回声或低回声，CEUS 呈均匀或不均匀增强模式，低灌注区、瘤内微循环和均匀廓清。CEUS 显示不均匀增强模式、低灌注区和瘤内微循环的存在可用于鉴别良恶性（腺癌和嗜铬细胞瘤）与良性（腺瘤）肾上腺病变。
病变仅通过细胞学特征进行描述。
CEUS 检查是鉴别良恶性肾上腺病变的一种有价值的工具，并且可能有助于区分嗜铬细胞瘤与腺癌和腺瘤。然而，获得最终诊断仍需要细胞学和组织学检查。
