Pheochromocytomas are rare tumors derived from the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla. Although these tumors have long been postulated to induce hypertension and cardiomyopathy through the hypersecretion of catecholamines, catecholamines alone may not fully explain the profound myocardial remodeling induced by these tumors. We sought to determine whether changes in myocardial function in pheochromocytoma-induced cardiomyopathy result solely from catecholamines secretion or from multiple pheochromocytoma-derived factors.
Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E25-442, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. mobine@mit.edu
