Pheochromocytoma differential diagnosis

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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ahmad Al Maradni, M.D. [2]

Overview

Pheochromocytoma must be differentiated from other causes of paroxysmal hypertension including: severe paroxysmal hypertension (Pseudopheochromocytoma)

, panic disorder, Factitious hypertension, carcinoid syndrome, Migraine headache, Hyperthyroidism, Insulinoma, Renovascular hypertension, Hypoglycemia and drugs.

Disease	Symptoms	Signs	Investigations
Pheochromocytoma	The hallmark symptoms of a pheochromocytoma are those of sympathetic nervous system hyperactivity, symptoms usually subside in less than one hour and they may include: Palpitations especially in epinephrine producing tumors.[3] Anxiety often resembling that of a panic attack Sweating Headaches: occurs in 90 % of patients. paroxysmal attacks of hypertension but some patients have normal blood pressure. May be asymptomatic and discovered by incidence screening especially MEN patients. Please note that not all patients with pheochromocytoma experience all classical symptoms.[4]	Common physical exam findings include: Tachycardia Hypertension, including paroxysmal (sporadic, episodic) high blood pressure, which sometimes can be more difficult to detect. Orthostatic hypotension	High risk patients: plasma fractionated metanephrines is the first test, if elevated; 24-hour urinary fractionated metanephrines, catecholamines, and imaging shuld be the second test for diagnosis. [2] Low risk patients: 24-hour urinary fractionated catecholamines and metanephrines.[4]
Pseudopheochromocytoma	Paroxysmal activation of the sympathetic system causing hypertension and tachycardia that responds to alpha/beta blockade.Disorder is usually related to emotional distress. Acute onset of high blood pressure, headache, chest pain, nausea, palpitations, flushing. Duration of attacks ranges from minutes to hours.		Increase in plasma catecholamines between and during attacks.
Panic attacks	Paroxysm of increased sympathetic activity. Characterized by episodes of fear or panic Such as psudopheochromocytoma, panic disorders are usually associated with physical symptoms such as chest pain, headache, palpitations, flushing and both respond to antidepressants. In panic attacks fear precedes physical symptoms. By contrast, in pseudopheochromocytoma physical symptoms occur before feeling fear.		Laboratory studies that can exclude medical disorders other than panic disorder include: Serum electrolytes to Serum glucose Cardiac enzymes Urine toxicology screening.
Labile hypertension (White coat hypertension)	Patients exhibit elevated blood pressure in a clinical setting but not in other settings.[1]	Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and patient self-measurement using a home blood pressure monitoring device are being increasingly used to differentiate patients with white coat hypertension from patients with true hypertension.	Normal
Hyperthyroidism	Symptoms of hyperthyroidism include: weight loss, heat intolerance, tremor, palpitations, anxiety, increased bowel disturbances , and shortness of breath.	Goiter, skin flushing and eye proptosis. Increased sensitivity of beta receptors in heart to catecholamines due to effect of thyroid hormones increase cardiac work and output and systolic hypertension.	Low thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) high free thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) concentrations.
Renovascular hypertension	Age of hypertension < 30 years and > 55 years Abrupt onset of hypertension Accelerated hypertension that was previously well-controlled Refractory hypertension to 3 anti-hypertensive medications Malignant hypertension	(bruit) can be heard over the abdomen.	Diagnosis by Duplex ultrasonography is considered class I recommendation. It may be used as an initial screening tool for diagnosis of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis. Ultrasonography might not be very accurate in obese patients or those intestinal gas.[1]
Stroke and compression of lateral medulla	Extensive unilateral infarction of the brain stem in the region of the nucleus tractus solitarius may result in partial baroreflex dysfunction, increased sympathetic activity, and neurogenic paroxysmal hypertension.		CT shows mass compressing lateral medulla or infarction in the same area.
Seizures	Symptoms experienced by a person during a seizure depend on where in the brain the disturbance in electrical activity occurs. Recent studies show that seizures happen in sleep more often than was thought. A person having a tonic-clonic seizure may cry out, lose consciousness and fall to the ground, and convulse, often violently. A person having a complex partial seizure may appear confused or dazed and will not be able to respond to questions or direction. Some people have seizures that are not noticeable to others. Sometimes, the only clue that a person is having an absence seizure is rapid blinking or a few seconds of staring into space. Change in alertness; the person cannot remember a period of time Mood changes, such as unexplainable fear, panic, joy, or laughter Change in sensation of the skin, usually spreading over the arm, leg, or trunk Vision changes, including seeing flashing lights Rarely, hallucinations (seeing things that aren't there) Falling, loss of muscle control, occurs very suddenly Muscle twitching that may spread up or down an arm or leg Muscle tension or tightening that causes twisting of the body, head, arms, or legs Shaking of the entire body Tasting a bitter or metallic flavor Many seizures, especially in children, are preceded by tachycardia that frequently persists throughout the seizure. This early increase in heart rate may supplement an aura as a physiological warning sign of an imminent seizure.		An isolated abnormal electrical activity recorded by an electroencephalography examination without a clinical presentation is called subclinical seizure. They may identify background epileptogenic activity, as well as help identify particular causes of seizures.
Carcinoid syndrome	Hypertensive crisis occurs with malignant carcinoid syndrome should be distinguished from pheochromocytoma. Patient	Cutaneous flushing Venous telangiectasia Diarrhea Bronchospasm Cardiac valvular lesions : tricusped incompitence.	High urinary excretion of 5-HIAA High urinary excretion of serotonin High chromogranin concentration Chromogranins (designated as A, B, and C) are proteins that are stored and released with peptides and amines in a variety of neuroendocrine tissues High blood serotonin concentration High plasma 5-HIAA concentration CT is recommended for evaluation of all patients with carcinoid tumors
Migraine headaches	(1) Prodrome, which occurs hours or days before the headache, (2)  Aura, which immediately precedes the headache, (3) the pain phase, also known as headache phase and (4) The postdrome phase.	Conjunctival injection may be present Horner's syndrome [1] may be present Adie type pupil [2] may be present Cranial/ cervical muscle tenderness may be present Listen for bruit at neck and head for clinical sights of arteriovenous malformation.	CT is indicated in patients with: [1] [2] Abnormal physical examination Increase of headache's frequency Poor coordination Focal neurologic signs Headache's awakening the patient at night[3][4] Atypical aura: sudden onset, lasting more than 1 hour, always at the same side and/or without visual symptoms Migraine attacks that begin after 50 years of age CT is not indicated in: Patients with a diagnosis of migraine in accordance with the criteria for migraine. Differentiating a migraine from other primary headaches
Drugs	Sympathomimetic drugs that can induce symptoms simulating pheochromocytoma include high-dose phenylpropanolamin, cocaine, amphetamine, LSD, PCP.  Combination of a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor and ingestion of tyramine-containing foods.	Disturbed consciousness. nasal septum perforation in cocaine addiction. Needle marks in skin. History of antidepressants intake.	Toxicology screening
Baroreflex failure	Marked and frequent fluctuations in blood pressure, with both high and low readings . It is caused by hypofunctioning of the baroreflexes that normally buffer blood pressure fluctuations. The disorder is usually a result of injury to carotid baroreceptors, with most patients reporting a history of neck irradiation or surgery.		Neck CT

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