Resistant Hypokalemia Improving After Radical Nephrectomy: A Case Report

Abstract

Paraneoplastic syndromes are systemic disorders developing in response to any neoplasm and may have various clinical symptoms depending on the affected organ system. Hypercalcemia, one of the renal cell carcinoma (RCC) - Related Paraneoplastic syndromes, occurs in approximately 20% of patients with RCC. Although clinical conditions such as paraneoplastic hypercalcemia and polycythemia are more common complications of RCC, there are rarer paraneoplastic syndromes such as hepatic dysfunction, galactorrhea and Cushing’s syndrome. It has been reported that RCC accounted for 2% of all cancers responsible for for Cushing’s syndrome and the symptoms associated with Cushing’s syndrome remited after surgical treatment. In our patient, although serum isolated adrenocorticotropic hormone, aldosterone and cortisol levels were normal, there was treatment resistant hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis and this was not related to Cushing’s syndrome. Complete normalization of the clinical picture and laboratory values after radical nephrectomy suggests that hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis may be a Paraneoplastic syndrome associated with RCC.

Keywords

• carcinoma
• adenocarcinoma
• hypopotasemia
• hypokalemia
• cushing’s syndrome
• nephrectomy
• radical nephrectomy
• oncology
• urooncology