[McKittrick- Wheelock syndrome: report of one case]

Abstract

Villous colorectal adenomas are common tumors that normally provoke scarce symptomatology. We report a 59 year-old female that was admitted with severe dehydration due to severe diarrhea lasting 10 days and vomiting in the last 48 hours. On rectal palpation a large tumor located 5 cm above the anus was palpated. Colonoscopy confirmed the presence of a villous adenoma that was excised surgically. In this patient, the fluid and electrolyte hypersecretion of the rectal villous adenoma provoked a depletion syndrome with serious hydroelectrolytic alterations, acute renal failure and hypovolemic shock. This syndrome was first described by McKittrick and Wheelock in 1954.