Carling Adrenal Center Spotlights Pheochromocytoma: The Common Adrenal Tumor You've Never Heard Of--But Could Be Making You Sick

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This Pheo Para Awareness Week, The Carling Adrenal Center is working to bring attention to the prevalence of pheochromocytoma (pheo) and paraganglioma (para), which are neuroendocrine tumors that make excess adrenaline. These medical conditions are more common than people realize but are diagnosed years too late in most cases. Pheo Para Awareness Week, August 21-25, is an initiative by The Pheo Para Alliance to raise awareness so these common tumors can be found and cured more quickly.

The Carling Adrenal Center at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery performs more pheochromocytoma operations than any other institution worldwide, allowing insight into how these high blood pressure-causing tumors may be recognized and treated years earlier.

Pheochromocytoma is a tumor that originates in the adrenal glands, situated above the kidneys. These tumors produce excessive amounts of adrenaline-type hormones, leading to a range of symptoms including high blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, anxiety, sweating, and headaches. Despite many doctors thinking this is a rare tumor, the Carling Adrenal Center is raising a critical point during Pheo Para Awareness Week: this condition is more common than believed, but it often remains underdiagnosed due to its complex presentation and the lack of awareness among medical professionals and the general public.

The founder of the Carling Adrenal Center, Dr. Tobias Carling, has spent decades dedicated to refining surgical techniques, research, and raising awareness about pheochromocytoma. "The misconception about pheochromocytoma being rare has led to missed opportunities for timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment. It's time to change this narrative," he said.

Why are pheochromocytomas (and paragangliomas), so important, and why are we so eager to get patients treated? This has to do with the extremely toxic effects high levels of adrenaline hormone levels cause on other organs of the body (called Target Organ Damage). The toxic effects of excessive adrenaline hormones are detrimental to your entire body. The heart, blood vessels, kidneys, and brain are affected, and yet this disease can typically be cured through a 20-minute operation.

The best treatment option for more than 95% of pheochromocytomas is the posterior retroperitoneal adrenalectomy, also known as the Mini-Back Scope Adrenalectomy (MBSA). This operation is less invasive, much quicker (less time under anesthesia), and leads to faster recovery. But not just anyone can perform the MBSA procedure. In fact, this technique is reserved for only the most experienced adrenal surgeons. That's why Dr. Carling says it's worth it to travel for surgery.

"Most adrenal operations are performed by a surgeon who does less than four adrenal operations per year and the outcomes are often poor," Dr. Carling said. "Think about it—do you want someone who only does this complex operation four times a year operating on you? Adrenal surgery should only be performed by adrenal experts—those who do dozens per year or more. Period. If that means traveling to see an expert, then that is what you need to do."

As the most experienced adrenal surgeon in the world, Dr. Carling has performed an astounding number of pheochromocytoma operations annually, solidifying the Carling Adrenal Center's reputation as the global destination for adrenal surgery. In a single week, Dr. Carling sees more pheochromocytoma patients than most large university hospital systems see in a year.

"Experience matters when dealing with complex conditions like pheochromocytoma. Our team at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery has the opportunity to see many different variants and presentations of pheos, which allow us to personalize the operative approach for each patient and elevate the standard of care," added Dr. Carling.

More than half of patients seen at the Carling Adrenal Center travel from outside the state of Florida, and over 10% travel from outside the United States. The Center is well versed in making the experience seamless for its traveling patients, with features including nearby partner hotels, a shuttle to and from the airport and hospital, a single-night hospital stay, and more.

Dr. Carling and the Carling Adrenal Center team operate exclusively at the Hospital for Endocrine Surgery in Tampa, Florida. The Hospital for Endocrine Surgery is home to the Carling Adrenal Center, Clayman Thyroid Center, and Norman Parathyroid Center. Together, these centers are the highest volume endocrine surgery practice in the world.

About the Carling Adrenal Center:

Founded by Dr. Tobias Carling, one of the world's leading experts in adrenal gland surgery, the Carling Adrenal Center is a worldwide destination for the surgical treatment of adrenal tumors. Dr. Carling spent nearly 20 years at Yale University, including 7 as the Chief of Endocrine Surgery before leaving in 2020 to open to Carling Adrenal Center, which performs more adrenal operations than any other hospital in the world.

www.adrenal.com | (813) 972-0000

About Hospital for Endocrine Surgery

The Hospital for Endocrine Surgery is a campus of HCA Florida South Tampa Hospital focused on compassionate patient care and highly specialized treatment of endocrine tumors. We provide a wide array of services necessary for the diagnosis and surgical treatment of tumors of the thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal glands. Our team includes doctors, surgeons, nurses and technicians who have dedicated their careers to delivering the highest cure rates using the most advanced techniques available. HCA's Hospital for Endocrine Surgery is the nation's highest volume hospital for thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal tumors and cancers.

www.hospitalforendocrinesurgery.com

Media Contact:

Julie Canan

Director of Marketing, Carling Adrenal Center

(941) 468-3002

[email protected] 

SOURCE Carling Adrenal Center