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Background/AimsWe investigated the clinical characteristics and follow-up findings of subjects with adrenal incidentalomas in a single, tertiary-care hospital in South Korea.MethodsThe study consisted of a retrospective analysis of 282 adrenal incidentaloma patients who underwent radiographic and endocrinological evaluations at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, between January 2004 and July 2011.ResultsMost (86.2%) of the subjects were found to have nonfunctioning tumors. Functioning tumors were seen in 39 patients (13.8%). Among them, 28 (9.9%) had subclinical Cushing syndrome (SCS), six (2.1%) had pheochromocytoma, and five (1.8%) had primary hyperaldosteronism. Malignant adrenal tumors were discovered in three cases: two (0.7%) were primary adrenal cancers, and one (0.4%) was a secondary metastasis from a lung cancer. Significant risk factors for functional tumors were female gender (odds ratio [OR], 3.386; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.611 to 7.117; p = 0.0013) and a noncontrast attenuation value of > 10 Hounsfield units (OR, 2.806; 95% CI, 1.231 to 6.397; p = 0.0141). During follow-up (mean, 22.5 months) of 72 of the patients, three (4.2%) developed hormonal changes due to functional tumors. One was confirmed as pheochromocytoma by histopathology, and the others were diagnosed with SCS and followed routinely without surgical intervention. No malignant transformation was found in these patients.ConclusionsBased on these findings, initial hormonal and radiographic evaluations for adrenal incidentalomas appear to be more important than follow-up tests because functional or malignant changes are rare.

This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of comorbidities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with the non-RA population. The 2010–2012 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), which assesses the general health status of populations in South Korea using interviews and basic health assessment, was analyzed retrospectively. Weighted prevalence and odds ratio (OR) of comorbidities were analyzed in patients with RA compared with the non-RA population. The overall weighted (n = 37,453,158) prevalence of RA was 1.5%. Patients with RA were older and more female predominant than subjects without RA. The prevalence of living in an urban area, college graduation, alcohol consumption and smoking was lower in patients with RA than non-RA. Patients with RA had more comorbidities including hypertension, dyslipidemia, myocardial infarction (MI) or angina, stoke, osteoarthritis, lung cancer, colon cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis, asthma, diabetes, depression, thyroid disease and chronic kidney disease. After adjusting socioeconomic and lifestyle characteristics, RA was associated with an increased prevalence of MI or angina (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.17–2.96, p = 0.009), pulmonary TB (OR 1.95, 95% CI 1.24–3.09, p = 0.004), asthma (OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.05–3.71, p = 0.036), thyroid disease (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.05–2.77), depression (OR 2.38, 95% CI 1.47–3.85, p < 0.001) and hepatitis B (OR 2.34, 95% CI 1.15–4.80, p = 0.020) compared with the non-RA population. Prevalence of solid cancer was not significantly associated with RA after adjustment.