Pheochromocytoma

Pheochromocytoma

Anesthetic relevance	Critical
Anesthetic management	{{{anesthetic_management}}}
Specialty	Endocrinology
Signs and symptoms	Hypertension Headache Diaphoresis Tachycardia
Diagnosis	Urine metanephrines and catecholamines Abdominal CT/MRI for localization
Treatment	Surgical resection Alpha/beta blockade
Article quality
Editor rating	Comprehensive
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Pheochromocytoma is a rare neuroendocrine disease of the adrenal gland where catecholamine-secreting tumors cause hypertension. Pheochromocytoma is present in 0.05% - 0.2% of hypertensive individuals, the incidence of the disease presents equally between men and women with a distribution across age groups but peaks in between 40 and 50 years of age. The classic presentation of the disease is a triad of symptoms including headache, palpitations, diaphoresis with a documented clinical sign of hypertension (present in 90% of patients with pheochromocytoma). However, patients can often present with less definitive symptoms such as tremor, anxiety, flushing, weight loss, and hyperglycemia. While the majority of pheochromocytoma emerges from adrenal tumors, roughly 15-20% can be extra-adrenal in etiology.