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Diagnostic Localization of Pheochromocytoma
Author(s) -
PACAK KAREL,
EISENHOFER GRAEME,
CARRASQUILLO JORGE A.,
CHEN CLARA C.,
WHATLEY MILLIE,
GOLDSTEIN DAVID S.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2002.tb04423.x
Subject(s) - pheochromocytoma , medicine , scintigraphy , magnetic resonance imaging , positron emission tomography , radiology , nuclear medicine , nuclear imaging , paraganglioma , pathology
A bstract : Pheochromocytoma is a rare but clinically important tumor of catecholamine‐secreting chromaffin cells. This tumor constitutes a surgically curable cause of hypertension. Therefore, correct localization of pheochromocytoma is essential for effective management of this tumor. Several conventional and nuclear imaging modalities are currently available to localize pheochromocytoma. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have good sensitivity but poor specificity for detecting pheochromocytoma, and nuclear imaging approaches such as 131 I‐metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy or [ 111 In]‐DTPA‐D‐Phe‐pentetreotide (Octreoscan) have limited sensitivity. However, specificity of 131 I‐metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy is very good and this means of imaging provides a method for confirming that a tumor is a pheochromocytoma and rules out metastatic disease. Recently, we introduced a new imaging method, 6‐[ 18 F]fluorodopamine positron emission tomography, that can be used successfully for the detection of solitary and metastatic pheochromocytomas. Our preliminary data suggest that this method is superior to other nuclear imaging methods including metaiodobenzylguanidine and octreotide scintigraphy. In this report we provide an update regarding nuclear imaging of primary and metastatic pheochromocytoma, particularly using 6‐[ 18 F]fluorodopamine positron emission tomographic scanning.