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Query: UMLS:C0000737 (abdominal pain)
 31,184 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 63-year-old white woman was admitted to the hospital for bilateral total knee arthroplasty. She was given prophylactic subcutaneous heparin therapy postoperatively. Three days later, she had a brief hypotensive episode and an unexplained drop in hemoglobin level. Seven days postoperatively, she became confused and disoriented while complaining of pain in her right side and, later, under her left breast. She also had nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and a vague feeling of "illness." Her condition deteriorated progressively, with blood pressure falling to 65/40 mm Hg and a temperature of 39.7 degrees C. Blood, urine, and cerebrospinal-fluid culture samples showed no evidence of infection. A diagnosis of acute adrenal insufficiency was made. Following corticosteroid therapy, the patient's condition improved markedly. Of interest in our patient was that she had had no antecedent hypotension, sepsis, fever, or surgical complications. Acute adrenal hemorrhage is often overlooked because the symptoms are attributed to other conditions, especially to sepsis. Acute adrenal hemorrhage should be suspected in any stressed patient in whom an abrupt deterioration associated with back or abdominal pain, hypotension, and unexplained fever are noted. Suspicion should be raised regarding those patients who are receiving anticoagulant therapy (including subcutaneous heparin prophylaxis) at the time of deterioration. With increased awareness, more cases of acute bilateral adrenal hemorrhage and subsequent adrenal insufficiency can be recognized ante mortem and treated.
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PMID:Prophylactic subcutaneous heparin therapy as a cause of bilateral adrenal hemorrhage. 155 45

Forty-seven patients with active paracoccidioidomycosis were treated with itraconazole. The majority of the patients (45) had the chronic adult form of the disease while the remaining exhibited the juvenile form. All of the patients received itraconazole, 100 mg day-1, with the exception of two for whom the clinical condition necessitated a larger dose. The mean duration of therapy was 6 months, with a range of 3-24 months. Clinically, the skin and mucous membrane lesions as well as abdominal pain, auscultatory alterations and dysphonia improved markedly during treatment with a concomitant increase in weight. However, other symptoms (cough, expectoration and dyspnoea) persisted as sequelae in some cases. As expected adrenal insufficiency also persisted. The radiological lesions showed a gradual decrease of both scattered and confluent infiltrates, present in 67% of patients before, and in 13% at the end of treatment. On the other hand, fibrosis became more evident at the termination of therapy, increasing from 62% of patients at the beginning of therapy to 81% at the end. The mycological tests (direct examination and cultures) became negative during the first month of treatment in 42 patients (87%). A decline in specific antibody titres was observed in 72% of patients by the end of treatment. Evaluation of therapy by means of a scoring system indicated complete resolution of the disease in one patient (2%), marked improvement in 42 (89%) and minor improvement in four (8.5%); none of the patients showed a deterioration of their disease during therapy. Of fifteen patients who were followed up for 12 months post-therapy none showed clinical relapse during this period. The results of this study confirm the efficacy of itraconazole in the treatment of paracoccidioidomycosis.
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PMID:Treatment of paracoccidioidomycosis with itraconazole. 216 42

A seventy-five year-old woman developed adrenal hemorrhage and acute adrenal insufficiency while receiving anticoagulant therapy. Abdominal CT scan was consistent with bilateral adrenal hemorrhage and was an important contribution to diagnosis and therapy. Acute adrenal hemorrhage should be suspected in patients, especially the elderly, who have recently begun anticoagulant therapy and develop upper abdominal pain followed by decreased sensorium, high fever, hypotension, and hyponatremia. Any consideration of the diagnosis of sepsis with shock in a recently anticoagulated elderly hospital patient should suggest the possibility of acute adrenal hemorrhage. Abdominal CT scan and a cosyntropin stimulation test should be performed to confirm the diagnosis. Failure of diagnosis has generally been associated with death in most patients, whereas prognosis in patients treated with corticosteroids is excellent.
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PMID:Adrenal hemorrhage: a complication of anticoagulant therapy--a case history. 359 6

Acute adrenal insufficiency postoperatively is an uncommon problem and, if unrecognized, it may cause serious morbidity and can be fatal. It can occur as the result of acute bilateral adrenal hemorrhage associated with anticoagulation, inadvertent injury to or removal of a solitary adrenal gland, or postoperative stress in an individual with incipient adrenal insufficiency. Its manifestations, such as fever, tachycardia, hypotension, lethargy, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal dysfunction, mimic the other more common postoperative complications and compound the difficulty in establishing the correct diagnosis. Once the diagnosis is made the condition is readily managed successfully. We report 3 cases of acute adrenal insufficiency occurring after salvage cystectomy, ileal replacement of the ureter and retropubic prostatectomy, which illustrate the salient clinical features, problems in diagnosis and predisposing risk factors. All 3 patients survived once the diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency was made. These cases emphasize the need to be aware of the possibility of this complication to make the correct diagnosis and to institute proper treatment.
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PMID:Acute adrenal insufficiency as a complication of urological surgery. 394 71

We encountered a patient with siolated ACTH deficiency accompanying dementia. A 69-year old man was admitted because of abdominal pain. A decrease of serum Na level (114mEq/l) due to increased urinary Na excretion suggested the existence of adrenal insufficiency. While serum cortisol and urinary 17-OHCS, 17-KS excretions were reduced, plasma ACTH level remained below the normal range. Since daily ACTH injections increased both serum cortisol level and urinary 17-OHCS excretion, the patient was diagnosed as having isolated ACTH deficiency. The severity of dementia was measured by using the Hasegawa Dementia Scale. Both cerebral blood flow and metabolism, assessed with Positron Emission Computed Tomography (PET), decreased even after the start of 20mg/day cortril administration. An increase of the cortril supplement dose to 30mg/day attenuated the reduction of cerebral blood flow with the improvement of dementia from score point "1" to "27" (Hasegawa scale). The present case raised the possibility that loss of glucocorticoid may involve the development of dementia, resulting from decreased cerebral blood flow and metabolism.
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PMID:[A case of isolated ACTH deficiency with dementia]. 785 24

A 74-year-old man developed bilateral arterial thrombosis of the lower limbs related to heparin-associated thrombocytopenia syndrome (HATS). On day 4 after thrombectomy of both limbs, abdominal pain, fever, hypotension, abdominal tenderness appeared. Acute acalculous cholecystitis was suspected and cholecystectomy was carried out although the gallbladder was not imflamed. Later on, hyponatremia in addition to the aforesaid signs suggested the diagnosis of adrenal insufficiency. Diagnosis was confirmed by low cortisol and aldosterone plasma concentration and by CT scan, which showen two enlarged adrenal glands. HATS might explain two unexpected facts: occurrence of adrenal hemorrhage during heparin therapy with coagulation tests within the therapeutic range and paradoxical thrombosis in the central vein of adrenal gland. HATS must be regarded as one cause of adrenal hemorrhage necrosis.
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PMID:Heparin-associated thrombocytopenia syndrome: an underestimated etiology of adrenal hemorrhage. 829 32

Four cases of adrenal insufficiency due to bilateral adrenal haemorrhage in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome are reported. The 1st patient had repeated episodes of thrombosis on a background of altered general condition; he was examined by computed tomography (CT) which showed enlarged and presumably tumoral adrenal glands; adrenal insufficiency was present and improved under hormone replacement therapy; the thrombotic episodes were attributed to the antiphospholipid antibodies; after a 5-year follow-up the antiphospholipid syndrome remained alone, and further examinations showed progressive adrenal atrophy. The 2nd patient had systemic lupus erythematosus with thrombocytopenia; because of abdominal pain CT was performed, showing bilateral adrenal enlargement; treatment with intravenous pulses of cyclophosphamide and high-dose immunoglobulins combined with corticosteroids failed, and splenectomy was performed disclosing an old adrenal haematoma which was evacuated. The 3rd patient had bilateral and asymmetrical adrenal hypertrophy at CT; subsequently, systemic lupus erythematosus was diagnosed with anti-prothrombinase and anticardiolipin accounting for the initial findings; follow-up examinations showed the formation of pseudocysts in the adrenals; following myocardial infarction the patient died of cerebral haemorrhage, and autopsy confirmed the presence of old, bilateral adrenal haematomas. The 4th patient had recurrent vein thrombosis associated with distal ischaemia, which prompted CT in search of a neoplasia; this examination revealed 2 large adrenal haematomas while anticardiolipin antibodies were found. In patients with antiphospholipid syndrome any functional or morphological abnormality of the adrenals should prompt a search for bilateral adrenal haemorrhage. Conversely, in all cases of adrenal insufficiency a search for antiphospholipid antibodies should be part of all aetiological investigations, and this search should be carried out prior to withdrawing corticosteroids in cases of systemic lupus erythematosus with antiphospholipid antibodies.
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PMID:[Antiphospholipid syndrome. A new cause of bilateral hemorrhage of the adrenal glands. 4 cases]. 851 Nov 42

We describe the case of a 55 year old patient with acute adrenal insufficiency who suffered from abdominal pain, recurrent syncope and cardiac arrest. 32 hours after the successful cardio-pulmonal resuscitation, the patient developed a catecholamine resistant hyperdynamic shock. With the initiation of prednisolone therapy, because of suspected acute adrenal insufficiency, catecholamines became effective and led to a hemodynamic stabilisation and a general amelioration of the patient. Glucocorticoids have a permissive function for catecholamines and therefore are essential in these situations. After fluid replacement acute adrenal insufficiency may present as hyperdynamic shock which can be confounded with septic shock. Cardiac arrest however is an unusual complication of Addison's disease and the responsible pathological mechanism is unknown.
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PMID:[Cardiovascular arrest in adrenal cortex insufficiency]. 960 20

To describe the clinical and immunologic characteristics of patients with adrenal involvement and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), we conducted a computer-assisted (PubMed) search of the literature to identify all cases of primary adrenal insufficiency associated with antiphospholipid antibodies published in English, French, and Spanish from 1983 (when APS was first defined) through March 2002. We reviewed 86 patients (80 from the literature plus 6 from our cohort); 55% were male, and the mean age at presentation was 43 +/- 16 years. Sixty-one (71%) patients had primary APS, and 14 (16%) had systemic lupus erythematosus. In 31 (36%) patients, adrenal insufficiency was the first clinical manifestation of APS. Abdominal pain was present in 55% of patients, followed by hypotension (54%), fever (40%), nausea or vomiting (31%), weakness or fatigue (31%), and lethargy or altered mental status (19%). The main finding in imaging techniques was compatible with adrenal hemorrhage (59%) and in histopathologic study was a hemorrhagic infarction with vessel thrombosis (55%). Lupus anticoagulant was detected in 97% of patients and the anticardiolipin antibodies titer was positive in 93% of patients. Most patients (95%) were positive for the IgG isotype of anticardiolipin antibodies, whereas 40% were positive for the IgM isotype. Baseline cortisol levels were decreased in 98% of patients, ACTH hormone levels were increased in 96% of patients, and the cosyntropin stimulation test was positive in 100% of patients tested. Steroid replacement therapy was the most frequent treatment (84%), followed by anticoagulation (52%) and aspirin (6%). Thirty-two of 35 (91%) patients with prolonged anticoagulant therapy were in good health with a mean follow-up of 25 months, whereas 25 of the 69 (36%) patients with outcome data available had died. The results of the present review stress the clinical importance of systematic screening for lupus anticoagulant and anticardiolipin antibodies in all cases of adrenal hemorrhage or infarction. An initial screening for hypoadrenalism is mandatory in any antiphospholipid antibody-positive patient who complains of abdominal pain and undue weakness or asthenia.
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PMID:Adrenal involvement in the antiphospholipid syndrome: clinical and immunologic characteristics of 86 patients. 1264 Jan 87

The authors report on a 44-year-old female hemodialysis (HD) patient who presented with hypercalcemia secondary to isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) deficiency. She had been suffering from nausea and abdominal pain caused by recurrent esophageal ulcer. Blood calcium (Ca) adjusted for serum albumin concentration was increased to 14.9 mg/dL (3.72 mmol/L) concurrently with fever and hypotension. Serum intact parathyroid hormone (PTH)-related peptide was not elevated, but serum intact PTH and 1,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3 were decreased to 31 pg/mL (ng/L) and 8.1 pg/mL (2.6 pmol/L), respectively. Endocrinologic examination found that plasma ACTH was reduced below 5.0 pg/mL (0.22 pmol/L). A single ACTH stimulation normally increased blood cortisol, whereas a single corticotropin-releasing hormone injection failed to increase plasma ACTH and cortisol. Pituitary magnetic resonance imaging disclosed no enlargement of pituitary gland. Circulating bone formation and absorption markers were not elevated. Blood Ca was normalized shortly after pamidronate disodium administration without glucocorticoid supplementation. This case suggested that secondary adrenal insufficiency caused by isolated ACTH deficiency could be an occult cause of severe hypercalcemia in HD subjects.
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PMID:Isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone deficiency presenting with hypercalcemia in a patient on long-term hemodialysis. 1290 Aug 50


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