Malignant Hypertension Complicated with Necrotizing Pancreatitis After Starting Treatment: A Case Report

BACKGROUND Malignant hypertension (MHT), one of the severest forms of hypertension, can have deleterious effects on various organs, such as renal failure, retinopathy, and encephalopathy. These types of organ damage are common complications of MHT, but in several previous cases, damage to other organs, such as the gastrointestinal tract or pancreas, resulting from small vessel lesions, has also been reported, and these cases have had severe clinical outcomes and a poor prognosis. CASE REPORT A 32-year-old male patient with untreated hypertension of a 5-year duration presented with breathlessness and edema. His blood pressure was 220/144 mmHg, and he had renal dysfunction, congestive heart failure, and hypertensive retinopathy. He immediately received treatment, including antihypertensive agents and intermittent hemodialysis, but experienced epigastric pain for several days. A cystic lesion appeared in the pancreatic head, and his serum pancreatic enzymes were elevated. Based on these findings, acute pancreatitis with a cystic lesion was diagnosed. He first received fluid management, pain control, and parenteral nutrition but experienced 2 relapses. Finally, he received transpapillary endoscopic drainage for the cystic lesion with suspected walled-off necrosis. Thereafter, his symptoms improved. CONCLUSIONS The present case of MHT is the first to demonstrate acute necrotizing pancreatitis and it illustrates the difficulty of treatment. Therefore, if a patient with MHT presents with abdominal pain, a thorough workup, including contrast-enhanced computed tomography, should be performed to rule out significant organ involvement.