BACKGROUND: Adrenal disorders like Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia result in abnormal adrenal size and morphology, but little is known about the clinical value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in determining adrenal volume.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the potential usefulness of MR methodology to estimate adrenal size in healthy children, and to evaluate determinants of adrenal volume such as age, gender, body size, pubic hair stage and serum level of adrenal androgens.
DESIGN: 235 healthy children (116 girls) (age range 10.0-14.8 years) were examined by MRI. Clinical examinations (anthropometry and pubertal staging) were performed and five androgen metabolites measured in blood samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
RESULTS: It was possible to determine adrenal volume in 115/235 children using MRI. The adrenals were not measurable in 51% of children due to breathing and moving artefacts. The median volume of the right adrenal gland was 0.46 mL in girls and 0.46 mL in boys. The median volume of the left adrenal gland was 0.34 mL in girls and 0.40 mL in boys. Adrenal size was positively associated with body surface area (estimate B=0.34 mL/year, p=0.003), age (estimate B=0.05 mL/year, p=0.021) and pubic hair stage (estimate B=0.05 mL/stage, p=0.075). No associations between adrenal size and serum levels of adrenal androgens were observed.
CONCLUSION: It was possible to determine adrenal volume by MRI in only 50% of healthy children aged 10-15 years. Adrenal volume increased with age and Tanner stage of pubic hair. Future studies will unravel if adrenal MRI is useful when evaluating children with adrenal diseases.
Written by:
Mouritsen A, Johansen ML, Wohlfahrt-Veje C, Hagen CP, Tinggaard J, Mieritz MG, Tefre de Renzy-Martin K, Soeborg T, Fallentin E, Juul A, Main KM. Are you the author?
Department of Growth and Reproduction, Faculty of Health Sciences, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Reference: Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2014 Jan 24. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1111/cen.12414
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24455980
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