1. ¹Department of Medicine, Hahnemann Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
2. ²Department of Medicine, St. Luke's Hospital, an affiliate of the Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Correspondence: Dr. Robert N. Pursell, 701 Ostrum Street, Suite 304, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA.

Received 29 May 2002; Revised 4 June 2002; Accepted 13 February 2003.

Abstract

Twenty cases of extrarenal renin-secreting tumors have been reported, but this is the first case of a renin-producing teratoma. The patient was a 17-year-old African American girl who presented with hypertension and hypokalemia, and who was documented to have a plasma aldosterone–to–renin activity ratio consistent with secondary aldosteronism. Computed tomography demonstrated a pelvic tumor suspicious for a teratoma. With no other apparent etiology for the secondary aldosteronism, the teratoma was suspected to be an extrarenal renin-secreting tumor. This was confirmed after surgery by pathologic evaluation, and significantly reduced requirements for antihypertensive medication and potassium supplementation.