A Case Report of Spontaneous Unilateral Adrenal Hemorrhage in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy

TL;DR

A pregnant woman in her third trimester experienced a rare case of spontaneous adrenal hemorrhage, which was managed without surgery.

Contribution

This paper adds a new clinical case to the limited literature on spontaneous adrenal hemorrhage during pregnancy.

Findings

Spontaneous adrenal hemorrhage occurred in a hemodynamically stable pregnant woman.

The condition was diagnosed incidentally during investigation for pulmonary embolism.

Conservative management was successful without evidence of adrenal insufficiency.

Abstract

This case report describes a 33-year-old woman who developed spontaneous adrenal hemorrhage during the third trimester of pregnancy. She presented with left upper quadrant abdominal pain, which was described as pleuritic in nature, with shortness of breath. She also described nausea and had been sick a couple of times before she came to the hospital. However, she has remained hemodynamically stable. There were no signs of adrenal insufficiency. Adrenal hemorrhage was incidentally noted as she underwent investigation for suspected pulmonary embolism. Following the diagnosis of adrenal hemorrhage, she was managed conservatively under the joint care of physicians and the endocrinology team. A review of previous literature on adrenal hemorrhage in pregnancy was also included.

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