Abstract

Pheochromocytoma can present with various symptoms including cardiogenic shock and cardiac arrest. Particularly, in cases of cardiogenic shock of unknown origin, pheochromocytoma should be considered. A 20-year-old woman without any medical history visited our emergency department due to nausea, vomiting, headache, and chest pain. Echocardiography revealed severe left ventricular dysfunction. Mechanical ventilation and veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) were implemented owing to her unstable vital signs. For unstable vital sign and cardiogenic shock in a young woman without any previous medical history, pheochromocytoma was considered and diagnosed based on elevated levels of catecholamine derivatives in a 24-hour urine sample. Cardiac function recovered and ECMO was discontinued on the 5th day of hospitalization. She later underwent an elective adrenalectomy and no recurrence was found during the follow-up period. We reported a case of pheochromocytoma which was presented with cardiogenic shock in a young woman with no concomitant disease, and successfully treated with ECMO followed by an elective adrenalectomy.

• Keywords: Cardiogenic shock;Pheochromocytoma;Adrenalectomy;Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation