Nursing Students General Students
Published Feb 5, 2008
clyx_27
3 Posts
hello everyone.. i really need your help.. I just want to ask information about the pathophysiology of pheochromocytoma for my assignment in pathophysiology & pathophysio of Pulmonary TB for our case presentation this saturday... Please.. help me..
thanks a bunch... =0
Daytonite, BSN, RN
1 Article; 14,604 Posts
see post #49 of this thread in the nursing student assistance forum for the pathophysiology of pulmonary tb
a pheochromocytoma is a tumor of the endocrine system that produces norepinephrine. if the tumor becomes large enough it also produces epinephrine as well. the tumors come from adrenal medullary cells. if they metastasize they go to the lungs, liver, bones or paraaortic lymph glands.
other pathophysiology information i have on this kind of tumor is that they stem from a chromaffin cell tumor of the adrenal medulla or sympathetic ganglia, but more commonly the right adrenal gland than the left. patients will often have a history of unpredictable episodes of hypertensive crises, paroxysmal symptoms similar to seizure disorders or anxiety attacks, and hypertension that does not respond to conventional treatment. they may occur during pregnancy; when uterine pressure on the tumor causes more frequent hypertensive crises that can result in spontaneous abortion. i have other information that claims pheochromocytomas may occur in the abdomen, thorax, urinary bladder and the neck in association with cranial nerves ix and x. they may be an inherited autosomal dominant trait. they are rare, occurring in only 0.5% of newly diagnosed hypertensive patients. this condition occurs equally among all races and sexes of people. it tends to occur within families and is most common in ages 30 to 50.
these patients will have paroxysms (sudden, periodic attacks) or crises where they experience:
complications include:
(page 600, nurse's 5-minute clinical consult: diseases from lippincott williams & wilkins)
rnstudentsandy
I have found wikipedia.org to be a great resource for pathophysiology of all diseases. I am a 4th semester student and have had 3 instructors that are patho freaks.
Good Luck!