Hypertension is the most common clinical feature in patients with phaeochromocytomas. Characteristically, the hypertension is labile and is often associated with a variety of symptoms. Patients may present complaining of attacks of palpitations, headache, excessive sweating, pallor, or flushing, which may be associated with anxiety. On examination, most will be found to have hypertension.
There is a significant fall in blood pressure on standing in over sixty-five per cent of patients. In approximately ten to twenty per cent of cases, the phaeochromocytoma may be associated with other conditions such as von Recklinghausen's disease and, in multiple endocrine adenomatosis, with medullary carcinoma of the thyroid and/or hyperparathyroidism.
