Pheochromocytoma associated with nocturnal hypertension

Pheochromocytoma is often associated with paroxysmal hypertension. We report a 49-year-old woman with pheochromocytoma whose blood pressure (BP) was elevated regularly only at night. Plasma norepinephrine (NE) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) concentrations increased in parallel with the elevation of BP. After resection of the adrenal tumor, these circadian changes disappeared. Plasma NE and NPY, especially the former, from the tumor were considered to be the cause of this unusual fluctuation in BP.