Adrenal lesions assessed in the era of laparoscopic adrenalectomy: a modern day series

Background To evaluate if laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) has changed the indications for adrenalectomy. Methods Retrospective analysis of patients with adrenal lesions referred from 1992 to 2004. Patients were divided into 2 groups, those before and those after the introduction of LA. Results One hundred eighty patients were assessed. Functioning lesions were found in 120 (66%) patients. Sixty patients had nonfunctioning tumors. Before the introduction of LA, 13% had primary hyperaldosteronism (PA), 23% had pheochromocytoma (Pheo), 20% had Cushing’s syndrome (CS), and 7% had adrenal cortical cancer (ACC). No difference was seen in the percentage of patients referred after LA with Pheo (20%), CS (16%), or ACC (6%). There was, however, a significant increase in the percentage of patients referred with PA after introducing LA (13% vs. 27%), P < .05. Conclusion Indications for adrenalectomy have not changed since introduction of LA. There was, however, an increased percentage of patients with PA referred since the introduction of LA.