A rare coexistence of adrenal cavernous hemangioma with extramedullar hemopoietic tissue: a case report and brief review of the literature

BACKGROUND Cavernous hemangiomas of the adrenal gland are rare, benign, non-functioning neoplastic tumors. To our knowledge, 55 cases have been reported in the literature to date. CASE PRESENTATION We report the first case of a large, non-functioning adrenal cavernous hemangioma that was incidentally found during the preoperative staging workup of a 75 year old woman with left breast adenocarcinoma. Imaging with US, CT scan and MRI showed a heterogeneous 8 cm mass with non-specific radiological features that was located on the left adrenal gland. The mass was surgically excised and pathology revealed an adrenal hemangioma with areas of extramedullar hemopoiesis. CONCLUSION Although adrenal hemangiomas are rare and their preoperative diagnosis is difficult, they should always be included in the differential diagnosis of adrenal neoplasms.