BACKGROUND: Adrenal infarction is an infrequent cause of severe abdominal pain during pregnancy. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of adrenal infarction have not previously been thoroughly described.
CASES: A 20-year-old woman, gravida 1 para 0, presented at 27 4/7 weeks of gestation with sudden-onset right upper quadrant and flank pain. A 29-year-old woman, gravida 2 para 1, presented at 17 5/7 weeks of gestation with sudden-onset right abdominal and flank pain and again at 35 5/7 weeks of gestation with sudden-onset severe left flank and upper quadrant pain. In both patients, unilateral adrenal infarction was diagnosed on contrast-enhanced computed tomography after initial nondiagnostic ultrasonography and MRI. Clinical presentation and MRI features of nonhemorrhagic adrenal infarction are described.
CONCLUSION: Nonhemorrhagic adrenal infarction may be an underdiagnosed cause of acute abdominal pain during pregnancy and can be diagnosed with MRI