However, the period of tumour dissection and excision was devoid of large haemodynamic fluctuations. The average time taken was 3.5 to 4 hours per gland. In these patients satisfactory postoperative analgesia could be provided with intramuscular pethidine or intramuscular diclofenac sodium. In three patients the procedure had to be converted to open laparotomy due to haemorrhage. All three patients had preoperative radiological evidence of inferior vena cava and aortic involvement.
Patient selection plays an important role in a successful outcome.
Laboratoire associe a l'Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France. AB - Pheochromocytomas are tumors originating from chromaffin cells, the large majority of which are sporadic neoplasms. The genetic and molecular events determining their tumorigenesis continue to remain unknown. We investigated the expression of the RET gene in 14 sporadic tumors harboring no activating mutations. Whereas the GFRalpha-1 transcripts were detected at similar levels in normal tissues and in tumors, GDNF was frequently found expressed in sporadic tumors at levels several times higher than in controls.