A woman who was told her 10-pound weight loss and hot flashes were due to menopause was shocked to discover she actually had a rare tumor.
The healthy 47-year-old woman revealed her symptoms to doctors in Maryland during an annual checkup and was prescribed hormone therapy.
But six months later, she was rushed to the emergency room with chest pain and shortness of breath; doctors diagnosed her with a heart condition and discharged her with medication.
When he returned a month later with pneumonia, he was given a new medication. But when he returned four days later with difficulty breathing, he was finally ordered to have a CT scan, which “incidentally” revealed the “mass” in his chest.
It was in his left adrenal gland, which makes hormones for his body, and was about the length of two golf balls, leading to a diagnosis of pheochromocytoma.
Two weeks later, surgery was performed to remove the tumor and the left adrenal gland, and the woman made a full recovery.
A 47-year-old woman revealed her symptoms to doctors in Maryland during a routine medical checkup (file image)
Revealing the case in the American Journal of Medical Case ReportsThe University of Maryland team said: ‘Given the patient’s age, the initial symptoms of flushing… her case was mistaken for menopausal symptoms.
‘The onset of new chest pains and palpitations led to an extensive investigation to look for cardiac causes.’
They added: “(But) after being hospitalized for pneumonia, her pheochromocytoma was eventually discovered incidentally on an abdominal CT scan.”
Doctors said they were revealing the case in the hope of helping others diagnose the disease more quickly and highlighting the variety of symptoms the illness can cause.
Pheochromocytoma is a rare disease, affecting about 100 patients a year, and is diagnosed when a noncancerous tumor grows in one of the body’s two adrenal glands.
It is often difficult to diagnose because it triggers a wide range of different symptoms, which can be associated with a variety of other conditions, including menopause.
Typical symptoms include headaches, sweating and heart palpitations, but studies show that only 17 percent of patients suffer from them. Other signs include anxiety, high blood pressure, abdominal pain, nausea and weakness.
The condition can also cause heart problems because it can cause the adrenal glands to produce excessive amounts of adrenaline, which stimulates the heart to beat faster.
It is usually diagnosed by scans of the adrenal glands and any masses found are removed during surgery.
If left untreated, there is a risk of permanent damage to the heart muscle, which can lead to complications such as arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) and heart disease. In severe cases, the condition can also lead to heart failure.
At her annual checkup, the woman said her last period was in 2021 and blood tests also found she had low levels of a female sex hormone that signals menopause.
But she was also on oral treatment. Contraceptives, which can prevent menstruation. Menopause usually occurs at age 51, but can begin as early as age 45.
When she first entered the emergency room six months later, she had tachycardia, or a heart beating faster than 100 beats per minute, and was rushed for tests to diagnose heart disease.
These included a coronary angiogram, an X-ray of the arteries and a left heart catheterization, where a tube is inserted into the left side of the heart to help diagnose any complications.
This led to a diagnosis of myopericarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle and the sac surrounding the heart, and he was prescribed medications to treat the condition.
But when she returned to the emergency room again a month later and again four days later, she had the scan that diagnosed her condition.