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Doctors successfully perform rare operation

Kang-Ning General Hospital doctors yesterday announced they successfully operated on a 62-year-old man diagnosed with a 13cm pheochromocytoma, a rare tumor of the adrenal gland.

Doctors stressed that this particular case was especially rare because the pheochromocytoma was not solid, but rather cystic and furthermore found not in the adrenal gland but in the abdominal aorta.

"In my 31 years as a doctor, I have only seen four cases of pheochromocytoma, and of those four cases, only this one was a cystic tumor located in the abdominal area," said Director of Kang-Ning hospital, Hsu Wen-hsien (許文憲).

Hsu completed the operation on Aug. 13 and the patient checked out on Aug. 27. Hsu explained that because the tumor secretes hormones known as catecholamine, including adrenaline, tumors of this sort usually manifest symptoms such as headaches, nervousness and excessive sweating. Urine tests can usually detect abnormal amounts of catecholamine.

In this particular case however, because the patient's tumor was a cyst, it secreted hormones only after being stimulated or after pressure was applied. The patient therefore experienced none of the usual symptoms until his grandson jumped on his back, placing pressure on the tumor. Only then was the patient admitted to the hospital.

According to the Sabiston Textbook of Surgery, the condition is found in 0.005 percent to 0.1 percent of the world's population.

The patient's tumor, although benign, was the size of a grapefruit and rested on top of his small intestine. Its growth had begun to hinder the intestine's normal functioning.

The doctors also found that six blood vessels connected the tumor to the patient's artery. Hsu said the blood vessels had to be extricated from the tumor one by one during the operation.
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