Coexistence of Pheochromocytoma with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: An Untold Association

Pheochromocytomas have been described in association with rare vascular abnormalities, most common of them being renal artery stenosis. A 45-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with complaints of headache, sweating, anxiety, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and severe hypertension. For the last several days, she was having a dull aching abdominal pain with a palpable, pulsatile, expansile and non-tender mass in the epigastric region. Hypertension was confirmed biochemically to result from excess catecholamine production. Abdominal computed tomography revealed the presence of a right adrenal pheochromocytoma. Magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen demonstrated an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) of maximum transverse diameter of 4.5 cm with 3 cm lumen. Surgical removal of pheochromocytoma resulted in normalization of blood pressure to normal. Because of the asymptomatic 4.5 cm aneurysm, our patient was advised for periodic follow-up. To our belief, this is the first such case report emanating from India, citing this rare association between pheochromocytoma and AAA. It is concluded that when the two diseases occur simultaneously, both must be diagnosed accurately and treated adequately. Possible mechanisms of such an uncommon association are also discussed.