Pheochromocytoma crisis presenting with hypotension, hemoptysis, and abnormal liver function: A case report

Pheochromocytomas are rare catecholamine-secreting tumors arising from adrenomedullary chromaffin cells, usually causing hypertension, palpitation and headache. However, pheochromocytoma crisis, on the contrary, might present with hypotension, multiple organ dysfunction or even mimicking other diseases, leaving physician with diagnostic difficulties. In this study, we present a case featured hypotension, shock and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome on admission, which nearly lead us to miss the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma.

A 14-year-old female student presented with cough, hemoptysis and dyspnea for one week was reported.

The laboratory test showed significantly increase in plasma norepinephrine and 24-hour urine norepinephrine, the enhanced CT of bilateral adrenal gland showed two round-like masses (left: 4 × 5 × 3 cm; right: 6 × 4 × 3 cm) with soft tissue density in each adrenal gland. The post-surgical pathology confirmed the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma.

The resection of bilateral adrenal tumors was conducted after the preoperative medical treatment of phenoxybenzamine for two weeks.

The patient underwent follow-up for a year and a half and showed no signs of recurrence.

The diagnosis and treatment process of the patient in this study indicates us that when we meet a patient with hypotension and multiple organ dysfunctions in a relatively short time, the suspicion of pheochromocytoma should not be missed.