PHEOCHROMOCYTOMA MIMICKING AN ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

*Pankaj Kumar Singh, Ashish Gautam, Vivek Kumar Verma and Nishtha Chaudhary

ABSTRACT

We are reporting a 34-year-old female who presented with diffuse chest pain, dyspnoea, headache, tremor and palpitation. Electrocardiography suggested a recent anterior myocardial infarction. Paroxysmal hypertension raised the suspicion of a pheochromocytoma. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a mass in the right adrenal gland. Elevated levels of plasma and urine catecholamines supported the diagnosis of pheochromocytoma. After surgery, all antihypertensive medication was discontinued and the blood pressure returned to normal within several days. Currently, the patient is asymptomatic, has normal catecholamine levels and the electrocardiographic signs of ischaemia have resolved entirely. This case illustrates that a rare clinical entity such as pheochromocytoma should be put in the differential diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome.

Keywords: Pheochromocytoma, myocardial infarction, left ventricular hypertrophy.