An autopsy case of unexpected death due to Addison’s disease caused by adrenal tuberculosis

Abstract Background Adrenal tuberculosis is difficult to diagnose due to non-specific symptom. Unexpected death due to adrenal insufficiency after trauma surgery is rare. Case presentation A 45-year-old man, who was admitted to hospital because of trauma to the right hand, died unexpectedly on the 1...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nan Zhao, Yutong Gao, Chunsheng Ni, Danfang Zhang, Xiulan Zhao, Yanlei Li, Baocun Sun
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: BMC 2021
Materias:
R
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/bc1a52d468f0481c9d92de20b5d22f23
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Abstract Background Adrenal tuberculosis is difficult to diagnose due to non-specific symptom. Unexpected death due to adrenal insufficiency after trauma surgery is rare. Case presentation A 45-year-old man, who was admitted to hospital because of trauma to the right hand, died unexpectedly on the 13th day after replantation of amputated fingers. He was diagnosed with brain edema and diluted hyponatremia. Autopsy and histopathologic examination revealed severe brain edema combined with cerebellar tonsillar hernia, extensive destruction of adrenal gland caused by bilateral adrenal tuberculosis and right lung invasive pulmonary tuberculosis. Conclusions Trauma and pulmonary tuberculosis complicated with adrenal tuberculosis induced the adrenal crisis, which eventually lead to severe cerebral edema and hernia, and finally death from respiratory and circulatory failure. This autopsy and histopathologic examination suggested a possible pathophysiologic mechanism of sudden death due to diluted hyponatremia after trauma surgery.