Table 1.
Summary of world literature of prevalence of adrenal incidentaloma based on autopsy series.
| Study/year (ref.) | Total no. of patients | Adenoma frequency (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Rinehart et al. 1941 (18) | 100 | 3 |
| Dempsey 1942 (19) | 50 | 8 |
| Russi et al. 1945 (11) | 9000 | 1.45 |
| Commons and Callaway 1948 (12) | 7437 | 2.86 |
| Schroeder 1953 (13) | 4000 | 1.38 |
| Dawson 1956 (20) | 45 | 8.9 |
| Holmes et al. 1956 (21) | 53 | 1.9 |
| Shamma et al. 1958 (22) | 220 | 1.8 |
| Spain and Weinsaft 1964 (23) | 200 | 15.5 |
| Dévényi 1967 (14) | 5120 | 3.55 |
| Kokko et al. 1967 (9) | 2000 | 1.05 |
| Hedeland et al. 1968 (10) | 739 | 8.7 |
| Dobbie 1969 (24) | 50 | 32 |
| Yamada and Fukunaga 1969 (25) | 948 | 5.4 |
| Granger and Genest 1970 (26) | 2425 | 2.52 |
| Russell et al 1972 (15) | 35000 | 1.73 |
| Abecassis et al. 1985 (27) | 988 | 1.9 |
| Winkelmann et al. 1987 (28) | 117 | 3.4 |
| Meagher et al. 1988 (29) | 2951 | 5 |
| Kawano et al. 1989 (16) | 153000 | 0.24 |
| Kobayashi et al. 1991 (17) | 321847 | 0.03 |
| Reinhard et al. 1996 (30) | 498 | 5 |
| Sington et al. 1999 (31) | 29 | 6.9 |
| Median values for all studies | 948 | 3 |
Source data is highly variable in terms of autopsy, surgery or radiological in origin, patient selection and AI definition.