Relative Enhancement Ratio of Portal Venous Phase to Unenhanced CT in the Diagnosis of Lipid-poor Adrenal Adenomas

Background: The development of an accurate, practical, noninvasive, and widely available diagnostic approach to characterize lipid-poor adrenal lesions (greater than 10 HU at unenhanced CT) remains an ongoing demand. Purpose: To investigate whether combined assessment of unenhanced and portal venous phase CT allows for the differentiation of lipid-poor adrenal adenomas from nonadenomas. Materials and Methods: Patients with lipid-poor adrenal lesions who underwent unenhanced and portal venous phase CT with a single-energy scanner between January 2016 and March 2020 were identified retrospectively. For each lesion, the unenhanced and contrast-enhanced attenuation were measured; the absolute enhancement (contrast-enhanced minus unenhanced attenuation [HU]) and relative enhancement ratio ([absolute enhancement divided by unenhanced attenuation] x 100%) were calculated. The sensitivity achieved at 95% specificity to distinguish adenomas from nonadenomas was determined with receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and compared among parameters with use of the McNemar test. Results: A total of 220 patients (mean age +/- standard deviation, 66 years 6 12; 134 men) with 131 lipid-poor adenomas and 89 nonadenomas were analyzed. The sensitivity (achieved at 95% specificity) of the relative enhancement ratio (86% [113 of 131 adenomas; 95% CI: 79, 92] at a threshold of >210%) was higher than that of unenhanced attenuation (50% [66 of 131 adenomas; 95% CI: 42, 59] at a threshold of <= 21 HU), contrast-enhanced attenuation (3% [four of 131 adenomas; 95% CI: 1, 8] at a threshold of >120 HU), and absolute enhancement (24% [32 of 131 adenomas; 95% CI: 17, 33] at a threshold of >74 HU; all P,.001). The sensitivities of the relative enhancement ratio were 100% (58 of 58 adenomas; 95% CI: 94, 100), 83% (52 of 63 adenomas; 95% CI: 71, 91), and 30% (three of 10 adenomas; 95% CI: 7, 65) for adenomas measuring unenhanced attenuation of more than 10 HU up to 20 HU, 21-30 HU, and more than 30 HU, respectively. Conclusion: A relative enhancement ratio threshold of greater than 210%, measured at unenhanced and portal venous phase CT, accurately differentiated lipid-poor adenomas from nonadenomas, particularly for lesions with unenhanced attenuation of 10-30 HU. (C) RSNA, 2021

Automated summary

In this study, the combined assessment of unenhanced and portal venous phase CT images allowed for the accurate differentiation of lipid-poor adrenal adenomas from nonadenomas. The relative enhancement ratio was found to be more sensitive in distinguishing adenomas from nonadenomas, particularly for lesions with unenhanced attenuation of 10-30 HU.