Somatostatin-Receptor Scintigraphy Identifies a Cardiac Pheochromocytoma

A17-year-old woman had paroxysmal hypertension. Very high levels of urinary catecholamines suggested a diagnosis of pheochromocytoma (urinary norepinephrine 27 600 nmol/24 hours, normal <485 nmol/24 hours; urinary normetanephrine 37 607 nmol/24 hours, normal <2000 nmol/24 hours), but no adrenal tumor was found on the abdominal CT scan. Metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) whole-body scintigraphy was performed, and no abnormal uptake was observed. To locate the tumor, 111In-labeled pentetreotide somatostatin-receptor scintigraphy was performed. An intense …