Shi F, Sun LX, Long S, Zhang Y. Pheochromocytoma as a cause of repeated acute myocardial infarctions, heart failure, and transient erythrocytosis: A case report and review of the literature. World J Clin Cases 2021; 9(4): 951-959 [PMID: 33585644 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i4.951]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ying Zhang, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, No. 36 Nanyingzi Street, Shuangqiao District, Chengde 067000, Hebei Province, China. cyfyzy@aliyun.com
Research Domain of This Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Feb 6, 2021; 9(4): 951-959 Published online Feb 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i4.951
Pheochromocytoma as a cause of repeated acute myocardial infarctions, heart failure, and transient erythrocytosis: A case report and review of the literature
Fei Shi, Li-Xian Sun, Sen Long, Ying Zhang
Fei Shi, Li-Xian Sun, Ying Zhang, Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, Chengde 067000, Hebei Province, China
Sen Long, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, Chengde 067000, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Shi F managed the case and edited the manuscript; Zhang Y assisted with editing and revising the manuscript; Sun LX and Long S read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported byScience and Technology Support Plan Project of Chengde, China, No. 201701A072.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ying Zhang, MD, Chief Doctor, Department of Cardiology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University, No. 36 Nanyingzi Street, Shuangqiao District, Chengde 067000, Hebei Province, China. cyfyzy@aliyun.com
Received: October 22, 2020 Peer-review started: October 22, 2020 First decision: November 20, 2020 Revised: November 25, 2020 Accepted: December 11, 2020 Article in press: December 11, 2020 Published online: February 6, 2021
Core Tip
Core Tip: Pheochromocytomas release massive amounts of catecholamines that can cause life-threatening cardiovascular complications, including cardiac arrhythmia, ST and non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction, heart failure, and hypertensive urgency. For acute myocardial infarction with unexplained erratic blood pressure, headaches, palpitations, and sweating, pheochromocytoma should be considered a differential diagnosis. Pheochromocytoma is a non-atherosclerotic cause of myocardial infarction. The myocardial cell lesions may be caused by tachycardia, coronary artery spasm, or cardiomyopathy, which are related to excess catecholamines. Pheochromocy-toma with erythrocytosis is rarely reported. Elevated hematocrit contributes to increased blood viscosity and thus, to higher risk of coronary heart disease.
