Aldosterone-Secreting Adrenal Cortical Carcinoma. A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Adrenal cortical carcinomas (ACC) are rare, typically aggressive malignant neoplasms with a reported incidence of 1–2 cases per 1 million population and account for 0.05–0.2 % of all malignancies. The majority of these tumors are functional with approximately 60 % of patients experiencing endocrine symptomatology typically characterized by Cushing’s syndrome (40 %) or a mixed hormonal picture of Cushing syndrome seen in association with virilization. Rarely, patients present with a pure hormonal syndrome of feminization or hyperaldosteronism, 6 and 2.5 %, respectively. We report a case of a 76-year-old woman presenting with recently diagnosed hypertension secondary to primary hyperaldosteronism. The patient underwent laparoscopic converted to an open adrenalectomy and a diagnosis of adrenocortical carcinoma (aldosteronoma clinical) was rendered. This case and review of the literature highlight that while rare, aldosterone-secreting adrenal cortical carcinomas may occur. In this case report, we discuss the clinical presentation, pathologic findings, and review the literature for adrenal cortical carcinomas and aldosterone-secreting adrenal cortical carcinomas.