Intraoperative detection of pheochromocytoma with iodine-125 labelled meta-iodobenzylguanidine: a feasibility study.

We evaluated the feasibility of intraoperative detection of pheochromocytoma sites after injection of meta-iodobenzylguanidine labelled with iodine-125. Six patients with multiple or recurrent pheochromocytoma were injected for intraoperative detection. During surgery, all count rates were recorded using a CdTe detector diode. Tumour foci were found in all cases. Tumour count rates ranged from 50 to 1000 counts per second (mean approximately 400). Blood activity, used as a reference level, ranged from 10 to 50 counts per second (mean approximately 35). In all patients, the intraoperative probe was helpful to the surgeon and facilitated the discovery of the pathological foci even when they were small (< or = 1 cm). Complete resection under probe control was correlated with postoperative normalization of urinary normetanephrine excretion. The use of a probe designed to detect low-energy gamma-ray radionuclides bound to a highly specific molecule provides an accurate detection tool which is well adapted for ectopic localizations and for small foci.