Magnetic resonance imaging of bladder pheochromocytoma: A case report

Bladder pheochromocytoma, as a rare bladder tumor, which originated from the chromaffin tissue of the sympathetic nervous system. It is difficult to distinguish from other non-epithelial tumors on imaging. This study reported a 31-year-old female, whose physical examination revealed a bladder mass for 50 days. The patient’s main clinical symptoms included sudden headache, dizziness, increased blood pressure, and chest palpitations after intermittent micturition. However, laboratory tests showed that the 24-hour urine catecholamine levels (norepinephrine, vanillylmandelic acid [VMA] and metanephrine) were normal. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a mass in the posterior bladder wall, the typical performance is“light-bulb” bright lesion on T2-weighted imaging. The mass was surgically excised, and histopathological examination revealed that it was a pheochromocytoma. During the first 3-month of postoperative follow-up, the patient’s symptoms gradually subsided. To our knowledge, this is the first case reporting on the use of MRI imaging and specific image features of this rare bladder pheochromocytoma. Due to the better soft tissue resolution and multi-parameter on MRI, changes in the size and internal signal of the lesion can be clearly displayed. Thus, MRI is an indispensable tool in tumor diagnosis and prognosis assessment.