Issue: 2020 > December > case report

Hypokalaemia and peripheral oedema in a Cushingoid patient with metastatic prostate cancer



CASE REPORT
L.M. Schepers, J.M.H. Kisters, C. Wetzels, G.J. Creemers
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Abstract

We report on a 75-year-old man with a history of metastatic prostate cancer who presented with haematuria, peripheral oedema, metabolic alkalosis, hypokalaemia, and hypertension. Laboratory evaluation was compatible with the diagnosis of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-dependent cushing’s syndrome and suggestive of ectopic ACTH production. Pathology of a prostate biopsy specimen showed a large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) of the prostate. This report describes a case of Cushing’s syndrome that was probably caused by ectopic ACTH secretion by a LCNEC of the prostate.