Pheochromocytoma in a long-term hemodialysis patient, discovered as an adrenal incidentaloma
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Updated: Nov 1, 2026

A Novel Method: Super-selective Adrenal Venous Sampling
Published on: September 15, 2017
S Asaka1, Y Takayama, S Tagawa
1Department of Internal Medicine, KKR-Hokuriku Hospital, Kanazawa.
Abstract:
A case of pheochromocytoma was discovered incidentally during long-term hemodialysis for chronic renal failure due to acquired cystic kidney disease. A 52-year-old male patient was examined for weight loss of 3 kg during over a period of 3 months. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) revealed a left adrenal mass (3.0 cm in size). Plasma adrenaline and noradrenaline were increased to 521 pg/ml and 1,341 pg/ml, respectively, and the metoclopramide provocative test was positive. Further, in the scintiscan using 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG), an accumulation of the radionuclide in the left adrenal tumor region was confirmed. The patient is currently under observation and conservative treatment due to the possible occurrence of arterial hypotension after resection of the tumor and to lesser possibility of the malignancy.
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