Increasing Skin Pigmentation Following Severe Head Trauma: All That Glitters Is Not Gold!
  • Chrysostomos S Katsenos
    Intensive Care Unit, Red Cross Hospital of Athens "Korgialeneio-Benakeio", Athens
  • Markos Moukas
    Intensive Care Unit, Red Cross Hospital of Athens "Korgialeneio-Benakeio", Athens
  • Vasiliki Baka
    Department of Medical Biopathology, Red Cross Hospital of Athens "Korgialeneio-Benakeio", Athens
  • Eleni Kafkoula
    Department of Medical Biopathology, Red Cross Hospital of Athens "Korgialeneio-Benakeio", Athens
  • Despoina Androulaki
    Intensive Care Unit, Red Cross Hospital of Athens "Korgialeneio-Benakeio", Athens
  • Kostas E Mandragos
    Intensive Care Unit, Red Cross Hospital of Athens "Korgialeneio-Benakeio", Athens

Keywords

ACTH, colon adenocarcinoma, ectopic corticotropin production

Abstract

We report the case of a 67-year-old man who was admitted to our Intensive Care Unit because of traumatic brain injury. During his prolonged hospitalization, gradual darkening of the skin all over his body was observed. An excess corticotropin (ACTH) production syndrome was considered. The patient’s hormone study showed high levels of ACTH (978 pg/ml) with normal cortisol levels. Extensive clinical and laboratory investigations revealed adenocarcinoma of the colon, which was likely the site of the ectopic ACTH production. This is a very rare manifestation of paraneoplastic syndrome during the course of colon adenocarcinoma. The most important feature of this case report is that this rare syndrome was accidentally discovered, in a patient hospitalized for unrelated reasons, by simple clinical investigation.

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References

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    Published: 2016-09-28
    Issue: Vol. 3 No. 6 (view)

    How to cite:
    1.
    Katsenos CS, Moukas M, Baka V, Kafkoula E, Androulaki D, Mandragos KE. Increasing Skin Pigmentation Following Severe Head Trauma: All That Glitters Is Not Gold!. EJCRIM 2016;3 doi:10.12890/2016_000467.