Diagnosis and treatment of extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma (report of 18 cases) / 中华泌尿外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the diagnosis and management of extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma. Methods Eighteen patients with extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma were analyzed retrospectively.Among the 18 patients 13(72%) were men.The mean age at diagnosis was 30 years,with a range from 15 to 65 years.All the patients presented with hypertension.Other typical symptoms included headache and dizziness(67%),palpitation and sweating(44%),blurred vision (33%) and hematuria (28%).Of all the patients 89% were diagnosed with urine CA and VMA.Most of the tumors were located at the bladder (39%),para-aorta (28%) and renal hilus(22%). Results All the patients were treated with surgical operation including 14 total resection of tumor,1 simple resection of tumor and 3 biopsy.Two of the 18 cases were malignant according to the post-operative pathologic diagnosis.Five patients recurred 3 months to 10 years after operation. Conclusions The determination of CA and VMA in urine is valuable for the diagnosis and monitoring of postoperative recurrence.Ultrasonography and CT scanning are effective means for tumor localization.The perioperative management of controlling blood pressure and expansion of the blood volume are very important.Surgical extirpation is a good method for the effective treatment.Postoperative long-term follow up is necessary.