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General and Systemic Histopathology, C601&C602
     

    Slide 82: Pheochromocytoma of Adrenal Gland
     
     
     

    Along with hypertension, hemorrhage and necrosis is the story of this tumor.  Understanding that will help aid with knowing why we see episodic swings in blood pressure in patients with this condition.  Parts of the tumor die and and suddenly release a large amount of epinephrine; up goes the blood pressure.  It will be tough to find much viable tumor in this specimen, but it's there.

    See this slide with the virtual microscope.

    This is a hard slide to understand. There is a lot of necrosis, so don't bother with the central portion of the tissue. Also, I am not so sure there is much in the line of normal adrenal gland to get your "bearings" from. The necrosis is the hallmark of this lesion. Look around the edges for viable tumor cells. They will be large and have bizarre nuclear features. There will be lots of pigment, representing old hemorrhage with hemosiderin deposits. Read about this lesion before trying to tackle the slide. 


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