[Rational diagnosis in primary and recurrent pheochromocytoma]

Measurement of urine and plasmacatecholamines allows reliable diagnosis of primary and recurrent pheochromocytoma. Chromaffin tumors which are thereby not identified may safely be operated upon without preoperative high-dosage phenoxybenzamine. In more than 80% of patients, ultrasonography suffices for localizing adrenal pheochromocytoma as well as paraganglioma. CT or MRI may be helpful when malignancy is suspected. Venous catheterization and sampling is only indicated when other diagnostic procedures fail to identify the source of a proven hypersecretion of catecholamines, and thus adrenal hyperplasia is suspected.