Cells in the adrenal glands make important hormones that help the body work properly. The Pheochromocytoma usually is found in the adrenal, as stated. However, Pheochromocytoma may also start in other parts of the body, such as the area around the heart or bladder. Some tumors which start in the chromaffin cells do not spread to other parts of the body and are not cancer. These are called benign tumors.
Pheochromocytomas often cause the adrenal glands to make too many hormones called catecholamines.
The extra catecholamines cause high blood pressure, called hypertension, which can cause headaches, sweating, pounding of the heart, pain in the chest, and a feeling of anxiety. High blood pressure that goes on for a long time without treatment can lead to heart disease, stroke, and other major health problems such as kidney, pancreas and liver illness. If there are symptoms, your doctor should order blood and urine tests to see if there are extra hormones in the body. A patient may also have a special nuclear medicine scan. A CT scan, an x-ray that uses a computer to make a picture of the inside of a part of the body, or an MRI scan, which uses magnetic waves to make a picture of the abdomen, may also be done.