Objectives: Benign adrenal schwannoma is an extremely uncommon cause of incidentaloma. This article describes our experience with the diagnosis and treatment of adrenal schwannoma in a Chinese population of 6 patients. To our knowledge, this is the largest series of this uncommon adrenal tumor treated in a single center.
Methods: From May 1999 to May 2009, 6 patients with incidentally discovered adrenal schwannoma were operated on at a tertiary referral hospital in Eastern China. Clinical details, radiographic features, laboratory examinations, pathological findings, and follow-up data of these patients were analyzed.
Results: Of the 6 patients, 4 were females (F) and 2 were males (M), with a mean age of 40.5 yr (range: 30-47, M:F=2:1). The 6 patients were managed with open unilateral adrenalectomy; 5 patients had schwannomas on the left side, and 1 on right side. Abnormal urine catecholamine was detected in 1 patient. The mean pathological size of these tumors was 4.3 ± 1.1 cm. The diagnosis of schwannoma was based on classic histological findings, and supported by immunohistochemistry of S-100, vimentin, and ABC positivity. In the follow- up of 47.5 ± 32.3 months, no recurrence and metastasis were observed.
Conclusions: Although there may be some clues for radiological diagnosis of adrenal schwannoma, preoperative misdiagnosis is not infrequent. Those tumors may occasionally have endocrine function. Histological examination is the key of diagnosis, and surgical resection is the treatment of choice once malignancy cannot be excluded by preoperative analyses.