Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0020538 (hypertension)
 170,190 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 45-year-old woman with poorly controlled hypertension and diabetes mellitus presented with left iliac fossa pain, constipation alternating with diarrhea, and weight loss. She had been diagnosed with idiopathic cardiomyopathy five years previously. Echocardiogram had shown a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 35%; coronary angiogram was normal. Colonoscopy revealed sigmoid colitis with stenosis. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a 5 cm right adrenal tumor. Twenty-four hour urinary free catecholamines and fractionated metanephrine excretion values were elevated, confirming pheochromocytoma. Her colitis resolved after one month of adrenergic blockade. Repeat echocardiogram showed improvement of LVEF to 65%. After laparoscopic right adrenalectomy, the patient's hypertension resolved, and diabetic control improved. Timely management avoided further morbidity and potential mortality in our patient.
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PMID:Unusual presentation of pheochromocytoma with ischemic sigmoid colitis and stenosis. 1973 30

Pheochromocytoma, a rare tumour, arises mainly in the adrenal gland. It consists of chromaffin cells or sympathetic para-ganglia if extra-adrenal. It is an occurrence of rare nature with an incidence of two to eight cases per million annually. Incidence of paediatric pheochromocytoma is estimated at 0.11 benign and 0.02 malignant pheochromocytomas per million children. Children with it present with sustained hypertension in contrast to the adult triad of tachycardia, headache, and diaphoresis. We report a case in which the patient initially presented with right iliac fossa pain indicating appendicitis but later when evaluated and assessed, pheochromocytoma was diagnosed as well. The incidental nature of the finding, keeping in mind the rare occurrence makes the outcome interesting and intriguing at the same time.
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PMID:Pheochromocytoma - An incidental finding in a child with acute appendicitis. 3050 59