CT in spontaneous adrenal gland rupture

Purpose: To report on an exceptional case of spontaneous, idiopathic, unilateral adrenal gland rupture that caused massive retroperitoneal hemorrhage

Methods and Results: US and CT were performed in a patient who presented with acute abdominal pain. Urgent adrenalectomy was required to prevent the blood loss from continuing. The CT findings were correlated with the histological findings

Conclusion: CT proved to be an accurate imaging modality by which to diagnose adrenal hemorrhage. The absence of irregular tissue enhancement showed that neoplasia was not the underlying cause of the hematoma