RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Case of functioning thoracic paraganglioma
JF BMJ Case Reports
JO BMJ Case Reports
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e236440
DO 10.1136/bcr-2020-236440
VO 13
IS 9
A1 Jinson Paul
A1 Felix K Jebasingh
A1 Thomas Alex Kodiatte
A1 Birla Roy Gnanamuthu
YR 2020
UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/13/9/e236440.abstract
AB Functioning thoracic paraganglioma (PGL) is rare in clinical practice. We present a 33-year-old man with this pathology, who came with right-sided chest pain and was found to have a right-sided paravertebral mass. Fine needle aspiration cytology revealed a PGL. Urine normetanephrine was elevated and meta- iodobenzylguanidine scan showed increased tracer uptake in the right hemithorax, suggestive of a functioning neuroendocrine tumour. The patient was subjected to right PGL excision by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, after adequate preoperative preparations. The perioperative period was uneventful, except for a transient rise in blood pressure during the surgery. His blood pressure continued to be normal in the postoperative period. In any patient with a paravertebral mass, the possibility of PGL should be kept in mind even if the patient is normotensive. Making a preoperative diagnosis is important, because excision of functioning PGL without adequate preoperative preparation may be detrimental.