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. 2016:2016:3489046.
doi: 10.1155/2016/3489046. Epub 2016 Aug 7.

IL-6-Producing, Noncatecholamines Secreting Pheochromocytoma Presenting as Fever of Unknown Origin

Marco Ciacciarelli  1 , Davide Bellini  2 , Andrea Laghi  2 , Alessandro Polidoro  1 , Antonio Pacelli  1 , Anna Giulia Bottaccioli  1 , Giuseppina Palmaccio  1 , Federica Stefanelli  1 , Piera Clemenzi  1 , Luisa Carini  1 , Luigi Iuliano  1 , Cesare Alessandri  1
Affiliations

IL-6-Producing, Noncatecholamines Secreting Pheochromocytoma Presenting as Fever of Unknown Origin

Marco Ciacciarelli et al. Case Rep Med. 2016.

Abstract

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) can be an unusual first clinical manifestation of pheochromocytoma. Pheochromocytomas are tumors that may produce a variety of substances in addition to catecholamines. To date, several cases of IL-6-producing pheochromocytomas have been reported. This report describes a 45-year-old woman with pheochromocytoma who was admitted with FUO, normal blood pressure levels, microcytic and hypochromic anemia, thrombocytosis, hyperfibrinogenemia, hypoalbuminemia, and normal levels of urine and plasma metanephrines. After adrenalectomy, fever and all inflammatory findings disappeared.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Coronal reformatted (a) and axial unenhanced CT images (b) show well-defined isodense mass in left adrenal gland measuring 3.5 cm in size. It is characterized by solid component (38 HU on unenhanced scan) (b), avid enhancement during arterial (c) and portal phases (102 HU) (d), and mild washout during delayed phase (79 HU) (e).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Axial T1-weighted (a) with fat suppression and T2-weighted (b) MR images show a left adrenal mass (arrow in (a)). The mass has heterogeneous high signal intensity on the T2-weighted image, low signal intensity on T1-weighted image, and no signal dropout on opposed phase T1-weighted image (c). Axial diffusion-weighted image (DWI) shows high signal intensity due to restricted diffusion (d).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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