Renal infarction associated with an extraadrenal pheochromocytoma

A patient with an abdominal extraadrenal pheochromocytoma showed computed tomography findings of renal infarction. Selective angiography of the affected kidney showed no evidence of arterial occlusion or emboli. We postulate that the renal infarcts were caused by reversible severe vasospasm associated with high systemic blood levels of norepinephrine and angiotensin II.