Clinical Analysis of Pheochromocytoma / Paraganglioma in Southern Taiwan

Pheochromocytoma, albeit rare, is an important cause of secondary hypertension. Although potentially curable, it can be lethal if it goes unrecognized. We reviewed the medical charts of 145 patients with ICD-9 coded as adrenal tumors from 1988 to 2004. A total of 140 patients were enrolled in this study. Eighteen patients had pheochromocytoma, and five patients had paraganglioma. Among these 23 pheochromocytoma/ paraganglioma patients, 13 cases had hypertension. A total of 12 received an operation and had no intraoperative mortality. Eleven patients became normotensive after operation. The other one, who was concomitant with diabetic nephropathy and chronic renal insufficiency, had persistent hypertension after operation and progressed to end-stage renal disease. Urinary levels of vanillylmandelic acid (VMA) were checked in 14 patients. Comparing the estimated tumor sizes with the urinary levels of VMA, larger masses had higher VMA levels (r=0.5668, P=0.0434). The pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma had the variable clinical presentations and was a nearly curable hypertensive disease. Also, the urinary levels of VMA correlated with estimated tumor sizes. (Acta Nephrologica 2006; 20: 166-174)