Pheochromocytoma Presenting as Partial HELLP Syndrome

Yazan Daaboul1, Serge Korjian1, Lamis Khalil1

  • 1Lebanese American University Medical Center-Rizk Hospital, Gilbert & Rose-Marie Chagoury School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos, Lebanon.

Diagnosis of pheochromocytoma in partial HELLP syndrome is extremely rare. We report a case of a 25-year-old multigravida woman at 30 weeks of gestation who presented with clinical features consistent with partial HELLP syndrome. Her symptoms were not controlled by pharmacologic therapy, and the patient underwent urgent cesarean section. The patient gave birth to a viable baby, but she sustained an episode of ventricular fibrillation intraoperatively that did not result in any long-term sequelae. The patient's symptoms persisted postoperatively and work-up for secondary etiologies of hypertension demonstrated a right adrenal pheochromocytoma. Following resection, the patient's signs and symptoms resolved, and her lab tests normalized.

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