Fig. 2.

Peripheral plasma steroid concentrations in patients with micro-APAs, macro-APAs and BAH.

The box and whisker plots (Panels A–G) represent peripheral plasma concentrations of the indicated steroids in patients with PA stratified for APA according to tumor diameter (micro-APAs ≤10 mm (n = 33) and macro-APAs >10 mm (n = 95)) and BAH (n = 69). Only steroids with significant differences in concentrations between micro-APAs, macro-APAs and BAH are shown. Horizontal lines within boxes indicate the median, boxes and whiskers represent the 25th to 77th percentiles and the minimum and maximum values, respectively, after exclusion of outliers that are defined by 1.5 times the interquartile range and are indicated by filled circles. Concentrations are indicated in ng/mL which are converted to pmol/L by dividing by the molecular weight of each steroid: aldosterone, 360.44; 18-oxocortisol, 376.45; 18-hydroxycortisol, 378.46; 11-deoxycorticosterone, 330.46; pregnenolone, 316.48; DHEA, 288.42; DHEAS, 367.50. P values were calculated using Kruskal-Wallis tests followed by pairwise comparisons. 18OH-cortisol, 18-hydroxycortisol; APA, aldosterone-producing adenoma; BAH, bilateral adrenal hyperplasia; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; DHEAS, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate.