Angiographic Diagnosis of Pheochromocytoma

To the Editor:—  In the past 18 months we have angiographically localized four pheochromocytomas. Since our experience mirrors that of Rossi and his co-workers,¹ a presentation of our cases might emphasize their conclusions.Each patient had a single neoplasm; all tumors were on the left—three in the adrenal and one lateral to the aortic bifurcation.Our angiographic technique was similar to Rossi's. Each patient's blood pressure was monitored during the study, and in two cases, before we used alpha-adrenergic blocking agents as premedication, we had to administer phentolamine (Regitine) hydrochloride for hypertensive episodes. One crisis could be related to the injection of contrast medium, while the other was a mechanical phenomenon, occurring with catheterization (no injection) of the middle suprarenal artery, shown on an earlier aortogram to feed the tumor. Though premedication with blocking agents has prevented further reactions, it mitigates but does not abolish pharmacoangiologic technique,² in