Table II.
Differential Diagnosis of Pheochromocytoma 2
| All hypertensive patients (sustained and paroxysmal) when diagnosis is unknown |
| Anxiety, panic attacks, psychoneurosis, tension states |
| Hyperthyroidism |
| Paroxysmal tachycardia |
| Hyperdynamic β‐adrenergic circulatory state |
| Menopause |
| Vasodilating headache (migraine and cluster headaches) |
| Coronary insufficiency syndrome |
| Renal parenchymal or renal arterial disease with hypertension |
| Focal arterial insufficiency of the brain; cerebral vasculitis |
| Intracranial lesions (with or without increased intracranial pressure) |
| Autonomic hyper‐reflexia |
| Diencephalic seizure; Page's syndrome; dopamine surges |
| Preeclampsia (or eclampsia with convulsions) |
| Hypertensive crises associated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors |
| Hypoglycemia |
| Neuroblastoma; ganglioneuroblastoma; ganglioneuroma |
| Acute infectious disease; acute abdomen (cardiovascular catastrophe) |
| Unexplained shock |
| Neurofibromatosis (with hypertension) |
| Rare causes of paroxysmal hypertension (adrenal medullary hyperplasia; acute porphyria; clonidine withdrawal; baroreflex failure; pseudopheochromocytoma: factitious—induced by certain illegal, prescription, and nonprescription drugs); fatal familial insomnia |
| Conditions in italics may increase the excretion of catecholamines and/or metabolites. |