Dermatology

PHAilOCHROMOCYTOMA of the urinary bladder is a well recognized entity. The authors report a case and discuss clinical features of the 24 other cases recorded in the literature. Their patient presented with repeated episodes of hesmaturla, and severe throbbing headaches, skin pallor and respiratory distress during micturition. At no time was the blood pressure elevated. The histology of the bladder tumour resembled typical adrenal phreochromocytoma, and fluortmetric assay confirmed the presence of abundant noradrenaline. It is generally accepted that the presence of metastases is the only certain indication of malignancy in pheeochromocytoma, and these have occurred in four recorded cases. Partial cystectomy is the usual method of treatment.