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Updated: Jun 25, 2025
Thermal Ablation for the Treatment of Abdominal Tumors
Published on: March 7, 2011
Computed tomography-guided percutaneous cryoablation of hereditary adrenal pheochromocytoma in three patients
Emily Griffing1, Brenton Reading2, Francesco De Luca1
1Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, MO, USA.
Objectives:
Pheochromocytomas (PHEO) are neuroendocrine tumors rarely diagnosed in children. We are reporting on the management challenges of three adolescent patients who present with hereditary PHEO.
Case Presentation:
The index patient and his male sibling presented with bilateral PHEO, while a third patient presented with a unilateral PHEO, all associated with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome. The patients were treated with computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous cryoablation (CRA) of the adrenal lesions, with varying degrees of success.
Conclusions:
CT-guided percutaneous CRA of hereditary PHEO has not been reported in the pediatric population and may represent a novel treatment strategy that reduces the risk of intraprocedural complications and adrenal insufficiency (AI).
