RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Adrenal incidentalomas are tumors found accidentally by imaging. Among the incidentalomas, hemangiomas are quite rare and in certain cases their surgical intervention should never be overlooked. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We present a case of 70 years old Lebanese female with an adrenal tumor presented as syncope found to have anemia on presentation and a bleeding 17 cm adrenal tumor on imaging. Patient had workup to rule out functioning adrenal tumors and decision to excise the tumor was taken after failure of embolization. Pathology report denied malignancy despite of the huge size and was in favor of hemangioma. CONCLUSION: Adrenal hemangiomas are rare and they rarely present as syncope. Attention to such a life-threatening condition should be sustained. Embolization is primarily implied but one should never neglect the failure rate and the need for surgical intervention.
RESUMEN
CONTEXT: The incidence of syphilis has been increasing in recent decades in Western countries. Pituitary involvement is very unusual in syphilis. This infectious disease is not often considered in the workup of a patient with hypophysitis. CASE: We report the case of a 28-year-old man who was admitted for headaches worsening over 1 month that became resistant to paracetamol. A magnetic resonance imaging scan revealed a heterogeneous pituitary mass suggesting a pituitary tumor. Hormonal investigations showed partial corticotropic and thyrotropic deficiencies. Headaches required high doses of morphine. Transsphenoidal surgery was performed, and histological examination revealed an aspect of hypophysitis. One month later, clinical reexamination showed skin and tongue lesions very suggestive of a syphilis infection, which was serologically confirmed. Immunohistochemistry on paraffin sections of the resected pituitary revealed an abundant presence of Treponema pallidum, confirming the diagnosis of a syphilitic hypophysitis. Intravenous therapy by benzylpenicillin for 14 days was rapidly efficient. Headaches stopped within a few days, and the skin and tongue lesions disappeared during the following month. Thyrotropic deficiency resolved in 2 weeks, but partial corticotropic deficiency persisted at 3 months. CONCLUSION: This is the first case of a pituitary involvement in acquired syphilis, pathologically proven, in a non-HIV-infected patient. In a context of the resurgence of syphilis, this diagnosis should be considered in the case of a pituitary lesion with unusually intense headaches.
