title: A retrospective study of surgically excised phaeochromocytomas in Newfoundland, Canada.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A retrospective study detailing the circumstances surrounding diagnosis and treatment of pheochromocytomas with the associated genetic disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients with surgically excised pheochromocytomas in the Health Sciences Center, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada between January 2001 and December 2010 were retrospectively analyzed to determine associated familial syndromes, age, tumor size, symptomatology, and percentage of paragangliomas and bilateral pheochromocytomas. Pathology specimen reports, adrenalectomy lists and Meditech (electronic medical record) diagnostic codes provided a comprehensive database for this study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-four patients were studied; familial disorder patients comprised 42% (10/24). Average age at diagnosis was 57 among the sporadic and 34 in familial disorder groups (P = 0.006). Average tumor size was 4.5 cm in the sporadic group and 3 cm in the familial disorder group (P = 0.19). All atypical cases including bilateral or extra-adrenal tumors and malignancy occurred in familial disorder patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proportion of familial disorder patients (42%) was higher in this study than would be expected, likely a result of the relatively high incidence of hereditary autosomal dominant disorders within Newfoundland. Among familial disorder patients, the average younger age at diagnosis and the smaller tumor size suggest syndromic pheochromocytomas may develop earlier, however they are more likely to be diagnosed sooner due to biochemical surveillance testing in known genetic disorder patients. We also demonstrate a relatively high incidence of surgically resected pheochromocytomas of 4.679/million/year in Newfoundland.
authors.affiliation: Fellow, Endocrinology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holland
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Division of Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Health Sciences Center, St. John's, NL, Canada.
authors.forename: Vikram
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chandurkar
keywords: Familial; Newfoundland; phaeochromocytoma; von hippel lindau