Medical Mysteries: Dr. Drazner (Answer)

Published on: February 05, 2019 By: Staff Reports

After a successful hysterectomy, a patient developed chest pains and her heart ultimately went into cardiogenic shock. She was brought to William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. Upon arrival, she also had evidence of acute renal failure and shocked liver. Can you solve UT Southwestern's Medical Mystery? Watch the video, look at the imaging tests, and share your diagnosis in the comments field. Return in 28 hours to find out how our physicians solved this Medical Mystery.

Transcript

- So again, this is a 45 year old woman who presented with acute heart failure and cardiogenic shock and had a remarkable history of having been told that her heart was weak two times in the past. Do you know what she has? Do you know what the diagnosis is? We obtained an abdominal ultrasound shortly after she arrived at UT Southwestern. She had an adrenal mass. We sent off laboratory tests that confirmed that she had a pheochromocytoma. We placed her on medical therapy to block these neural hormones. Her heart recovered remarkably. We got her off the balloon pump, off the ventilator. She walked out of UT Southwestern. We also involved the endocrine surgical services here. Six weeks later she had the pheochromocytoma resected. She's now cured. So truly a remarkable recovery. Join us next week. See if you can solve our next medical mystery.