title: Severe orthostatic hypotension in carcinoma of the pancreas.
abstract: Autonomic dysfunction has been described in patients with advanced forms of cancer. We report a case of severe orthostatic hypotension in a patient with carcinoma of the pancreas in whom there was no clinical evidence of autonomic failure to account for the severity of the hypotension. Despite normal circulating levels of nor-adrenalin and an appropriate rise in the erect position, the vascular system appeared unresponsive. We suggest that in this patient the orthostatic hypotension was due to a paraneoplastic complication of the pancreatic tumour.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Watford General Hospital.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ashraf
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Farrow
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000150:complications*; D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D007024:Hypotension, Orthostatic / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*