Pheochromacytoma

Pheochromacytoma

Structure and Function of the Human Body

11/11/2012

kschossow

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Pheochromacytoma is a rare adrenal gland tumor. When this tumor is present, it grows in the center of the gland: rarely outside of the adrenal gland. It sometimes grows somewhere in the stomach. This tumor is usually benign. If you have PCC, your glands can produce too much of a certain hormone and raise your blood pressure and heart rate. This disease forces the adrenal glands to make too much adrenaline. Pheochromacytoma originates in chromaffin cells. If this goes undetermined, it can be fatal. 10% of the tumors are malignant. The places it is usually malignant in are bone, liver, and lymph nodes. The main reasons that I’m doing this disease is because my band director had it when he was 15 and I was close with him before he moved and got a different job at Minnehaha Academy. Mr. Marsolek, my band director, had the cancerous tumor. When he had surgery, they thought it was a small tumor, but it actually crushed his kidney and it had to be removed. The tumor was about the size of a football. In this paper I will write about the symptoms, different ways to cure it, and complications of the disease.

The symptoms of Pheochromacytoma include: Headaches, Nausea, Vomiting, Weight loss, Hypertension, Hyperglycemia, Diabetes, Diabetes-like symptoms, Palpitations, Angina, Chest pain, Clammy skin, Cold skin, Anxiety, Nervousness, Panic, Feeling of impending doom, Rapid pulse, Rapid breathing, Breathing difficulty, Vision disturbance, Impaired vision, Orthostatic hypotension, Fainting, Sweating, Flushing, Abdominal pain, Constipation, Paresthesias, Skin sensations, Headache, Paroxysmal hypertension, Tachycardia, Tremor, Emesis, Postural hypertension, Weakness, Fatigue, Pallor, Decreased gastrointestinal motility

These signs and symptoms occur because this type of tumor produces a surplus amount of chemical compounds called catecholamines. An excess amount of catecholamines and...