Keywords
catecholamines
hypertension
myocardial infarction
ileítis
mass media
politics
How to Cite
Abstract
Background: Dwight Eisenhower, a war veteran, served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States of America for two terms. Throughout his political career, he faced common health impediments, including paroxysmal fluctuations in blood pressure, multiple acute myocardial infarctions, and cerebrovascular events. After his dead, the autopsy revealed a pheochromocytoma in the right adrenal gland.
Contents: Pheochromocytomas are rare catecholamine-secreting tumors that develop in the adrenal glands. Symptoms are typically attributed to excessive stimulation of the Sympathetic Nervous System, leading to hypertension spikes, headaches, palpitations, diaphoresis, pallor, among others. Eisenhower suffered several health events that placed him in a tense political situation, three of them were: his first acute myocardial infarction, surgery for ileitis, and ischemic cerebrovascular event. Pheochromocytoma is attributed to the greatest responsibility for his health problems, this combined with the former president's unhealthy lifestyle habits, were determining factors in his clinical presentation.
Conclusions: Medical approaches during the 1950s and 1960s differed significantly from current practices. Retrospectively analyzing this case allows us to understand the bioethical and scientific changes that have impacted medicine over the past 50 years and compare them with contemporary paradigms.
References
.1. Alfaro-Martínez JJ. Personajes históricos en la consulta de Endocrinología. Endocrinol Nutr. 2014 ag.;61(7):382-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endonu.2014.02.007
Messerli FH, Loughlin KR, Messerli AW, Welch WR. The President and the Pheochromocytoma. Am J Cardiol. 2007 my.;99(9):1325-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2006.12.043
Gilbert RE. Eisenhower’s 1955 heart attack: Medical treatment, political effects, and the “behind the scenes” leadership style. Polit Life Sci. 2008 mzo.;27(1):2-21. https://doi.org/10.2990/27_1_2
Román-González A. Nuevos conceptos en feocromocitoma y paraganglioma en el 2017. Rev Colomb Endocrinol Diabetes Metab. 2017;4(4):19-23. https://doi.org/10.53853/encr.4.4.148
Zuber SM, Kantorovich V, Pacak K. Hypertension in Pheochromocytoma: Characteristics and Treatment. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2011 jun.;40(2):295-311. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecl.2011.02.002
González AR, Sierra J, Restrepo JG, Barrera CA, Jimenez C. Feocromocitoma-Paraganglioma: revisión de tema. Med Lab. 2015;21(3):111-30. https://doi.org/10.36384/01232576.115
Liu Z, Ma J, Jimenez C, Zhang M. Pheochromocytoma: a clinicopathologic and molecular study of 390 cases from a single center. Am J Surg Pathol. 2021;45(9):1155-65. https://doi.org/10.1097/PAS.0000000000001768
Gilbert RE. The impact of presidential illness on the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Polit Life Sci. 2012;31(1-2):16-35. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0730938400014234
Messerli FH, Messerli AW, Lüscher TF. Eisenhower’s Billion-Dollar Heart Attack - 50 Years Later. N Engl J Med. 2005 sept.;353(12):1205-7. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp058162
Lee TH. Seizing the Teachable Moment - Lessons from Eisenhower’s Heart Attack. N Engl J Med. 2020 oct.;383(18):e100. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2031046
Jiménez C, Cote G, Arnold A, Gagel RF. Should Patients with Apparently Sporadic Pheochromocytomas or Paragangliomas be Screened for Hereditary Syndromes? J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006 ag.;91(8):2851-8. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2005-2178
Jimenez C, Gagel RF. Genetic testing in endocrinology: lessons learned from experience with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2). Growth Horm IGF Res. 2004;14:150-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ghir.2004.03.033
Lenders JW, Duh QY, Eisenhofer G, Gimenez-Roqueplo AP, Grebe SK, Murad MH, et al. Pheochromocytoma and Paraganglioma: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2014 jun.;99(6):1915-42. https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2014-1498
Thosani S, Ayala-Ramirez M, Román-González A, Zhou S, Thosani N, Bisanz A, et al. Constipation: an overlooked, unmanaged symptom of patients with pheochromocytoma and sympathetic paraganglioma. Eur J Endocrinol. 2015;173(3):377-87. https://doi.org/10.1530/EJE-15-0456
Román González A, Londoño MDP, Diaz J, Builes CA, Gutiérrez J. Incidentaloma adrenal: estado del arte. Acta Méd Colomb. 2015 dic.;40(4):318-25. https://doi.org/10.36104/amc.2015.565
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2023 Revista Colombiana de Endocrinología, Diabetes & Metabolismo