Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Pheocrhomocytomas are rare tumors, principally benigns, and with high risk of morbimortality because of secretion of big amountos of catecholamines. They are an unfrequently cause of arterial hypertension in pediatric age but physicians must remember it because they can be diagnosed, treated and cured in a proper way.

Objectives: To evalue the cases reports of pediatric pheochromocytoma found in our area, to analyze the differences in diagnosis, pronostics and treatment if we compare with adult age.

Material and method: Demographic, analitical, morphological and histological characteristics are analized in the three cases of pheochromocytomas found in our area in last fifteen years. A bilateral pheochromocytoma with asynchronous presentation is exposed.

Results: The average age was 12,5 years. The both children were male. Clinical presentation was arterial hypertension (66%), tonicoclonic seizures (33%), and atypical symptons as hypoglycemias, arterial hypotension, tremors and malnutrition (weight<p3). The catecholamines determination in 24 hours tinkles, abdomen TC, I123 gammagraphy were the way to diagnose these tumors. Before surgery a α and β block was required. Histological study confirmed the benignancy of three tumors.

Conclusions: -Atypical symptons in presentation, extraadrenal and bilateral tumors, are more frequent in children than in adult age.

-Malignant pediatric pheochromocytomes are very unusual.

-Physicians shoud practise a genetic study to these children, because of the high association with herediatary syndromes as Von Hippel-Lindau disease.