Hypertensive Crisis in a Patient With a Functioning Mesenteric Paraganglioma: Dramatic Response to Octreotide...

To report a dramatic and immediate clinical and biochemical response during treatment with octreotide in a patient with a functioning mesenteric paraganglioma (PGL).

A 44-year-old woman was admitted with a severe hypertensive crisis and a blood pressure reaching 260/150 mm Hg. She was 2 months postpartum and had been previously diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. Secondary hypertension was suspected. This was confirmed by finding a 6 × 5-cm² retroperitoneal mass located using 68-Gallium DOTA-octreotate positron emission tomography/computed tomography and a grossly elevated plasma catecholamine level of 93 000 pmol/L (normal reference range: 650-2433 pmol/L). Treatment was immediately started with high doses of long- and short-acting octreotide. After 6 weeks and before surgery, the patient was normotensive, with a blood pressure of 120/70 mm Hg and a norepinephrine level of 6000 pmol/L. The tumor resection was uneventful, and histology confirmed the diagnosis. Following the surgery, the patient remained normotensive without any medications.

PGLs and pheochromocytomas are neuroendocrine tumors, and most have receptors for octreotide. This case and another patient previously reported responded dramatically to treatment with a high dose of octreotide. Earlier reports of patients failing to respond are likely to have been the result of using a smaller octreotide dose.

We conclude that high doses of short- and long-acting octreotide are valuable in severely hypertensive patients. Our experience suggests that octreotide is of value in other patients with PGLs and pheochromocytomas. The response is rapid, sustained, effective, and with minimal reported side effects. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a hypertensive crisis in a functional mesenteric PGL.