J Korean Soc Emerg Med.
2011 Feb;22(1):124-127.
Case of Pheochromocytoma Presenting as a Seizure in the Emergency Department
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea. emkwlee@cu.ac.kr
Abstract
- Pheochromocytomas are catecholamine-producing tumors that originate from chromaffin cells of adrenal medulla. Typical symptoms are paroxysmal hypertension, headache, hyperhidrosis, and hypermetabolism. But, the clinical presentation is sometimes quite variable. Atypical clinical presentations can complicate diagnosis. Seizure as a presenting symptom is very rare in pheochromocytoma. We report the case of a 58-year-old female transferred to our emergency department with seizure and transient stuporous mentality. Incidentally, we diagnosed pheochromocytoma by femoral artery computed tomography because of puncture complication in the femoral artery.
