Abstract: | IntroductionAdrenal hemorrhage is an uncommon but potentially life-threatening condition, particularly in cases of bilateral adrenal hemorrhage causing primary adrenal insufficiency. It is difficult to diagnose clinically, particularly in critically ill patients, given its non-specific symptoms and signs, which include abdominal pain, vomiting, fever, weakness, hypotension, and altered conscious state. Non-traumatic adrenal hemorrhage has been observed to occur in times of physiological stress, such as post-surgery, sepsis, burns, and hypotension. This is hypothesized to be due to a combination of increased arterial blood flow to the adrenal glands, the paucity of draining adrenal venules and adrenal vein thrombosis, leading to intra-glandular vascular congestion and subsequent hemorrhage.Case seriesWe present four cases of non-traumatic adrenal hemorrhage, which demonstrated features of preceding adrenal congestion (adrenal gland thickening and peri-adrenal fat stranding) on computed tomography (CT) imaging. Comparison was made with 12 randomly selected intensive care patients to observe if these findings were prevalent in this subgroup of patients.ConclusionNon-traumatic adrenal hemorrhage is an uncommon condition that is difficult to diagnose clinically. As such, it may be useful to recognize CT features of adrenal congestion as a sign for potential adrenal dysfunction and subsequent adrenal hemorrhage, so early steroid replacement therapy can be commenced to prevent death from adrenal insufficiency. |