Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors that differ mainly in location, arising from chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla and sympathetic/parasympathetic neural ganglia, respectively.
Chromaffin cells naturally produce norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine. Nevertheless, in PPGL patients, the levels of these catecholamines are strongly enhanced (with some exceptions), leading to hypertension, headaches, palpitation, and diaphoresis. None of these symptoms alone clearly point to the presence of PPGLs.
Patients present non-specific signs and symptoms, and autopsy studies indicate that a relatively large number of these tumors remain undiagnosed during life.
The definitive treatment of PPGL is surgical excision of the tumor, which is associated with a high risk of intraoperative and postoperative hemodynamic adverse events.
The lack of specific symptoms, combined with the fact that these tumors are uncommon, makes it difficult for clinicians to consider PPGLs as the underlying cause. Given the severe comorbidities associated with undiagnosed/untreated PPGLs (such as diabetes, catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy, and osteoporosis), it is important to develop sensitive and specific tools for their early diagnosis.
Therefore, the aim of this Research Topic is to explore the latest predictive tools for the diagnosis of PPGLs and associated comorbidities. We aim to gather a set of articles, under the following aspects:
-Potential predictive biomarkers to diagnose and discern the malignancy of PPGLs.
-Development of computed tomography features to diagnose PPGLs, differentiate PPGLs from other adrenal incidentalomas, and predict intraoperative hemodynamic instability.
-Predictive factors for comorbidities associated with PPGLs.
The collection welcomes original research articles, (mini) review, or perspective articles amongst others.
Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma (PPGL) are rare neuroendocrine tumors that differ mainly in location, arising from chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla and sympathetic/parasympathetic neural ganglia, respectively.
Chromaffin cells naturally produce norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine. Nevertheless, in PPGL patients, the levels of these catecholamines are strongly enhanced (with some exceptions), leading to hypertension, headaches, palpitation, and diaphoresis. None of these symptoms alone clearly point to the presence of PPGLs.
Patients present non-specific signs and symptoms, and autopsy studies indicate that a relatively large number of these tumors remain undiagnosed during life.
The definitive treatment of PPGL is surgical excision of the tumor, which is associated with a high risk of intraoperative and postoperative hemodynamic adverse events.
The lack of specific symptoms, combined with the fact that these tumors are uncommon, makes it difficult for clinicians to consider PPGLs as the underlying cause. Given the severe comorbidities associated with undiagnosed/untreated PPGLs (such as diabetes, catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy, and osteoporosis), it is important to develop sensitive and specific tools for their early diagnosis.
Therefore, the aim of this Research Topic is to explore the latest predictive tools for the diagnosis of PPGLs and associated comorbidities. We aim to gather a set of articles, under the following aspects:
-Potential predictive biomarkers to diagnose and discern the malignancy of PPGLs.
-Development of computed tomography features to diagnose PPGLs, differentiate PPGLs from other adrenal incidentalomas, and predict intraoperative hemodynamic instability.
-Predictive factors for comorbidities associated with PPGLs.
The collection welcomes original research articles, (mini) review, or perspective articles amongst others.