Conventional Imaging in Adrenocortical Carcinoma: Update and Perspectives

The objectives of this study were to review how conventional imaging for adrenocortical carcinoma has evolved over the past 100 years and to highlight the current role for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Using historical cases from the Mayo Clinic archives, the approaches to conventional imaging for adrenocortical carcinoma are described, and pertinent literature is reviewed. Limited conventional imaging options in the first 75 years of the twentieth century were supplemented with keen clinical observation and clinical intuition. With the development of CT and MRI, technologic advances in the computed image-based assessment of adrenocortical carcinoma have been truly remarkable. CT and MRI can help determine whether an adrenal mass is an adrenocortical carcinoma and can also assess for local tumor invasion and metastatic disease. CT and MRI provide the clinician and surgeon with key information to guide medical and surgical management. Three decades from now, what we currently view as conventional imaging (e. g., CT and MRI) will be the imaging equivalents to the plain abdominal roentogram and intravenous pyelogram of the mid-twentieth century.