Objective: To summarize experience of perioperative anesthetic management for patients undergone excision of pheochromocytoma and complicated with catecholamine cardiomyopathy.
Methods: Perioperative anesthetic management for surgical treatment of three cases of pheochromocytoma complicated with catecholamine cardiomyopathy was described and discussed according to literature reports.
Results: The catecholamine cardiomyopathy of the three cases presented with left ventricular hypertrophy, congestive cardiac failure and acute myocardial infarction. After removal of the pheochromocytoma under general anesthesia, a prolonged hypotension occurred in all of the three cases. In order to maintain stable hemodynamics, large dose of catecholamine was required after surgery. All of the three patients were survived and discharged.
Conclusions: It is suggested that myocardial dysfunction may be another important factor for the prolonged hypotension after removal of the tumor. Meticulous preoperative assessment of heart function is of primary importance for the management of anaesthesia during surgical procedures.