Methodological Study on Diagnosis and Treatment for 18 Reported Extra-adrenal Pheochromocytoma Cases

Objective To study the diagnosis and management of extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma. Methods 18 patients with extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma were analyzed retrospectively. Results 18 cases of extra-adrenal pheochromocytoma maked up 26.1% of total pheochromocytoma during the study period, there were 15 patients with hypertension, 3 with non-symptomatic.Total excision of the tumor was performed in 17 cases and no serious complications were found. Conclusions The measurement of catecholamines and it's metabolites in blood and urine are valuable for the diagnosis and surveillance. The main methods of tumor localization might be B ultrasonograhy and CT. The preoperative administration of adrenergic blockers to control blood pressure and heart rate, the expansion of the blood volume are very important. The diagnosis of malignant pheochromocytoma depends much on long-term clinical follow up.