Adrenocortical adenoma with myelolipomatous metaplasia: a potential diagnostic pitfall: a case report and review of the literature

Background Adrenal incidentalomas are often found during investigation for another tumor or unrelated problems. Except for adrenal myelolipoma (second most common primary adrenal incidentaloma following adrenocortical adenomas), adrenal lipomatous tumors are uncommon generally and are often described as case reports in the literature. Since the amount of fat is variable, without the help of advanced imaging techniques, some adrenal lipomatous tumors may be misdiagnosed before pathologic examination. Herein, we report a case of adrenal adenoma with myelolipomatous metaplasia that was excised as a periceliac mass in the setting of recurrent pancreatic cyst. Case report A 45-year-old Iranian woman with hypertension and end-stage renal disease presented with recurrence of a pancreatic cyst (previous pathologic report was mucinous cyst adenoma). During exploratory laparotomy, the mentioned pancreatic cyst was tightly attached to the stomach and jejunum. There was also a periceliac round rubbery lesion (firstly diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound) that was excised for ruling out malignancy. Histologic examination of the periceliac mass was found to be adrenocortical adenoma with foci of myelolipomatous metaplasia. The pancreatic cyst histology was just a pseudocyst. Conclusion Our case highlights the significance of complete evaluation of incidental findings before surgical intervention, even in the setting of another primary tumor. Myelolipoma and myelolipomatous change (metaplasia) are two different entities. Although very similar as to pathogenesis, there are still some differences. Keywords: Adrenal adenoma, Adrenal myelolipoma, Myelolipomatous metaplasia