Abstract
An 81-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of bleeding from carcinoma of the small intestine. Although an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan showed bilateral adrenal metastasis and paraaortic lymph node metastasis, partial resection of the small intestine was performed to control the bleeding. The morning after the operation, he entered a state of shock. Adrenal insufficiency was suspected because of low blood pressure, hypoglycemia and hyperkalemia. His symptoms were dramatically improved by hydrocortisone treatment.
He was diagnosed with undifferentiated carcinoma of the small intestine by histopathological and immunohistochemical examination.
An undifferentiated carcinoma of the small intestine is rare and adrenal crisis due to adrenal metastasis is also extremely rare. We report a case of undifferentiated carcinoma of the small intestine and adrenal crisis due to bilateral adrenal metastasis. Adrenal function tests should be done in patients with bilateral adrenal metastasis.
