On-pump beating resection of cardiac pheochromocytoma

We describe the case of 34-year-old woman with a cardiac pheochromocytoma that was diagnosed by scintigraphy using iodine-131 metaiodobenzylguanidine. For preoperative evaluation, we chose multidetector computed tomography instead of coronary angiography, for fear that catheter manipulation might trigger catecholamine release from the tumor; it showed that no major coronary artery branches run through the tumor. The tumor resection was carried out safely with the use of cardiopulmonary bypass and without cardiac arrest.