Phaeochromocytoma. A report of 10 patients

A spectrum of presentation of phaeochromocytoma in black South Africans is described. Ten patients were reviewed over a 9-year period. Sweating, headache, and palpitations were prominent symptoms in 9 patients; postural dizziness occurred in 5; gastro-intestinal symptoms in 7; diabetes in 3; and hypertension in all. One patient developed a phaeochromocytoma crisis, characterised by hypotension and pulmonary oedema, before operation. One woman presented in pregnancy. Urinary vanillylmandelic acid was elevated in 9 out of 10 subjects tested; plasma catecholamines were elevated in 6 out of 6 tested. Computed tomography detected 7 adrenal tumours and 3 paragangliomas. All patients were stabilised pre-operatively with alpha- and/or beta-receptor blockers. Intraoperative pressor crises were controlled with sodium nitroprusside, phentolamine, or magnesium sulphate infusions. At operation all tumours appeared benign, each was successfully removed, and the diagnosis confirmed on histological examination. There was no operative mortality. Two patients had residual hypertension. This study highlights the various challenges presented by this catecholamine-producing tumour.