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Vol.42 No.2 contents | Japanese/English |
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- Case Report -
A Case of Addison's Disease Due to Bilateral Adrenal Metastasis of Adenocarcinoma of the Lung
Kazuhiro Kimura1, Katsuhiro Toyama1, Hidetomi Ryo1, Takako Hojyo1, Keigo Takagi 2, Yoshiaki Kitazawa31The First Department of Internal Medicine, 2Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and 3The Second Department of Pathology, Toho University School of Medicine, Japan
Case. A 48-year-old man with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung in the right upper lobe (clinical stage IV), treated as an inpatient with chemotherapy and radiation therapy is reported. He was again admitted due to nausea and anorexia during the follow-up period after discharge. Physical findings included severe pigmentation in the oral mucosa, gingiva, and skin of the entire body. Abdominal sonography demonstrated enlargement of the bilateral adrenal glands. In hematological examination, his ACTH level was elevated, while his early-morning serum cortisol level remained within the normal range. After we gave 24-hour continuous drip infusion of hydrocortisone at 100 mg/day based on the suspicion of Addison's disease due to bilateral adrenal metastasis from the lung cancer, his general condition improved. But he suffered from pneumonia and eventually died. At autopsy, his adrenal glands were about 10 cm in diameter due to metastasis from the lung cancer, and both glands were almost entirely replaced by tumor cells. Conclusion. We report this case because it is rare to experience a case developing Addison's disease due to metastasis of lung cancer to the adrenal gland.
key words: Adrenal metastasis, Addison's disease, Lung cancer
Received: December 10, 2001
Accepted: February 7, 2002
JJLC 42 (2): 135-138, 2002
