[Localisation of an extra-adrenal phaeochromocytoma with stenosis of the renal artery (author's transl)].

Compression of the left renal artery occurred in an eleven-year old girl with arterial hypertension, the compression being caused by an extra-adrenal phaeochromocytoma. Localisation of the arteriographically not identifiable phaeochromocytoma was achieved by examining the blood in stages for the presence of catecholamines from the vena cava. This examination revealed enhanced norepinephrine levels in the left renal vein. Today the following possibilities are utilisable for localising a phaeochromocytoma: diagnosis via ultrasound, axial computer tomography, stepwise withdrawal of blood from the tributaries to the vena cava superior and inferior for determining the catecholamine content. The indication for performing arteriography after preliminary treatment of the patient with alpha-receptor blockers, has become an exception.