Interesting case of the week 9/17/2021: Right pheochromocytoma, no symptoms with Dr. Tobias Carling.

Not all patients with pheochromocytoma have symptoms. As many as 30% of pheochromocytoma patients have no symptoms. Let me introduce you to a very pleasant female patient of mine. She is 77 years old, but strong as an Ox. She still works her farm, from sunrise to late into the evening Indeed, sometimes I had difficulty tracking her down because she was running around the farm on her tractor. At 77 years old. She is one tough Florida lady. She felt fine. She felt strong. The only problem she had was high blood pressure. She did have a CT scan though for other reasons, and this showed a 2.3 cm right adrenal tumor. This tumor did not look like a typical innocent benign (non-cancerous) adenoma, so her doctor ordered a PET scan, which also showed some concerning features. Clearly, she needed surgery. We did measure her adrenaline hormones (Catecholamines, Metanephrines), and they were only slightly elevated. I performed a 16 minute Right Mini Back Scope Adrenalectomy (MBSA). I almost always can tell in the operating room when I look at the tumor, I can tell what it is, and I knew instantly that it was a pheochromocytoma. She did awesome! My sweet 77-year-old famer lady did great and was back on her tractor working within a couple of days. So, remember, not all pheochromocytoma patients have symptoms! 00:05 Symptoms of pheochromocytoma 00:50 Description of symptom spells 01:35 Asymptomatic pheochromocytoma cases 02:13 Case study: incidental adrenal tumor 02:54 Diagnosis and surgical decision 03:34 Surgery outcome and key takeaway