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Adrenal Heterotopia

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Pathology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Pathology ((EP))

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Definition

Adrenal heterotopia refers to an aberrant location of otherwise normal adrenal tissue.

Clinical Features

Adrenal heterotopia is usually an incidental finding in surgical specimens or at autopsy with no clinical significance. It may become hyperplastic in patients with elevated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), e.g., congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Cushing disease, and rarely gives rise to adrenal cortical carcinoma or adenoma, functional or nonfunctional (Sasano et al. 1997; Zhang et al. 2016).

  • Incidence

    Adrenal heterotopic tissue has been identified in over 30% of unselected autopsies (Lack 2007).

  • Age

    Adrenal heterotopia can occur at any stage of life, in approximately 1% of adults and up to 50% of neonates. Ectopic adrenal tissue usually regresses in early infancy (Ye et al. 2009).

  • Sex

    There is no apparent gender predilection.

  • Site

    Adrenal heterotopia frequently occurs in the upper abdomen or along the migration path of the gonads during embryogenesis. Common sites...

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References and Further Reading

  • Lack, E. E. (Ed.). (2007). Atlas of tumour pathology: tumors of the adrenal gland and extra-adrenal paraganglia (Fascicle 19, series 3). Washington, DC: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

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  • Sasano, H., Sato, S., Yajima, A., Akama, J., & Nagura, H. (1997). Adrenal rest tumor of the broad ligament: Case report with immunohistochemical study of steroidogenic enzymes. Pathology International, 47, 493–496.

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  • Souverijns, G., Peene, P., Keuleers, H., & Vanbockrijck, M. (2000). Ectopiclocalisation of adrenal cortex. European Radiology, 10, 1165–1168.

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  • Ye, H., Yoon, G. S., & Epstein, J. I. (2009). Intrarenal ectopic adrenal tissue and renal-adrenal fusion: A report of nine cases. Modern Pathology, 22, 175–181.

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  • Zhang, J., Liu, B., Song, N., Lv, Q., Wang, Z., & Gu, M. (2016). An ectopic adrenocortical adenoma of the renal sinus: A case report and literature review. BMC Urology, 16, 3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pathological Anatomy Section, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Gioia Di Stefano & Gabriella Nesi

  2. Pathological Anatomy Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy

    Raffaella Santi

Authors
  1. Gioia Di Stefano
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  2. Raffaella Santi
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  3. Gabriella Nesi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gabriella Nesi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NIJMEGEN, The Netherlands

    J.H.J.M. van Krieken

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Di Stefano, G., Santi, R., Nesi, G. (2020). Adrenal Heterotopia. In: van Krieken, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5232-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28845-1_5232-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28845-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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