Abstract
Recently, we experienced five cases of adrenal pheochromocytoma, one of which was associated with gastric cancer and another two with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid. In this paper, the preoperative localization of the tumor and surgical treatment of pheochromocytoma are discussed. Computed tomography and ultrasonography were quite useful for the diagnosis of the tumor localization, and nuclear magnetic resonance-CT (NMR-CT) and scintigrams made with [131I] metaiodobenzylguanidine ([131I]MIBG)-newly developed techniques-were also useful.
It was necessary in every case to control the blood pressure preoperatively by drugs such as labetalol-an α and β blocker-or prazosin-an α blocker.
The preoperative measurement of the circulatory blood volume was also necessary to prevent hypotension after the removal of the tumor.
The transabdominal approach was adopted in our cases, but the retroperitoneal approach would be advisable for patients in whom the localization of the tumor was clearly demonstrated preoperatively.
