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Updated: Nov 1, 2025

Endoscopic Endonasal Trans-sphenoidal Approach: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Pituitary Adenomas
Published on: January 17, 2018
Case of pheochromocytoma mimicking MINOCA
Loucia Karatzia1, Rodney De Palma2
1Cardiology Department, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK loukiaka@gmail.com.
Abstract:
We present a 52-year-old woman who was admitted to the emergency department with a short history of palpitations, sweating and nausea. An electrocardiogram (ECG) that was performed suggested inferolateral ischaemia with a significant troponin rise. The patient underwent an invasive coronary angiogram that showed mild non-obstructive coronary disease. She was thus given a provisional diagnosis of myocardial infarction with non-obstructive arteries (MINOCA), treated as an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and subsequently discharged home. The patient represented within 72 hours with a recurrence of symptoms and a further troponin rise. While on the ward severe recurrent orthostatic hypertensive episodes were noted. Further investigations revealed increased urinary and plasma metanephrines, increased plasma catecholamines and imaging revealed a left adrenal 5.7 cm mass, demonstrating probable pheochromocytoma. The patient was treated with curative surgery. This case highlights the importance of thorough history-taking in patients with atypical symptoms for acute coronary syndrome and diagnosed with MINOCA.
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