Infection and pheochromocytoma

M. G. Myers and S. A. Arshinoff

A urinary tract infection with possible septicemia and endocarditis developed in a 36-year-old man. The illness was complicated by pulmonary embolism, thrombocytopenia, hematemesis, hepatic dysfunction, paralytic ileus and accelerated hypertension. The latter finding suggested pheochromocytoma. Treatment with antibiotics and phenoxybenzamine hydrochloride was associated with notable clinical improvement. A chromaffin cell tumor was surgically removed above the lift kidney. Conclusively, a pheochromocytoma may mimic and be present in association with infection.