Impact of adrenalectomy on metabolic alterations and quality of life in mild autonomous cortisol secretion: results from the randomized CHIRACIC trial.

Authors

A Tabarin, S Espiard, T Deutschbein, L Amar, D Vezzossi, G Di Dalmazi, Y Reznik, J Young, R Desailloud, B Goichot, D Drui, G Assié, H Lefebvre, K Mai, F Castinetti, S Laboureau, M Terzolo, A Ferriere, A Georget, E Frison, M C Vantyghem, P Gosse, M Fassnacht

Published in

European journal of endocrinology. Aug 11, 2026. Epub Aug 11, 2026.

Abstract

The CHIRACIC trail supported the beneficial effect of adrenalectomy on hypertension in patients with unilateral adrenal incidentalomas associated with mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS). Additional assessments evaluated the impact of adrenalectomy on body weight excess, metabolic abnormalities and quality of life.
Multicenter superiority open-label randomized trial comparing adrenalectomy to conservative management.
Following a run-in phase to control hypertension, receive lifestyle advice and treatment for comorbidities, patients underwent a workup including measurement of BMI, visceral and total fat, fat mass, fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, oral glucose tolerance test, plasma lipids and quality of life (QoL). Following randomization, assessment of comorbidities and adaptation of their treatment were performed every 3 months for 13 months. Workup was repeated at the end of the study.
Forty-eight patients were randomly assigned to adrenalectomy (n = 23) and conservative management (n = 25). 93%, 71% and 90% of patients were overweight/obese, prediabetics/diabetics and dyslipidemic, respectively. There was no statistically significant improvement in anthropometric and metabolic parameters after adrenalectomy as compared to conservative management: 21% and 4% of adrenalectomized and conservatively treated obese/overweight patients lost > 5% of body weight, respectively (difference 22%, 95%CI: -2% to 39%). Glycemic status improved in 44% and 33% of adrenalectomized and conservatively treated dysglycemic patients, respectively (difference 10%, 95%CI: -22% to 43%). Dyslipidemia improved in 20% of adrenalectomized and none of conservatively treated dyslipidemic patients. Changes in QoL were not different between groups.
The beneficial effects of adrenalectomy on excess weight, metabolic disorders and QoL demonstrated in the CHIRACIC trial are more limited than those observed for hypertension. Additional randomized interventional studies involving a larger number of patients are needed to support the use of adrenalectomy in the treatment of these comorbidities.

PMID:
42578946
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Aug 2026.

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