Radiological and pathological findings of a metastatic composite paraganglioma with neuroblastoma in a man: a case report

Radiological and pathological findings of a metastatic composite paraganglioma with neuroblastoma in a man: a case report

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Abstract Introduction Composite tumors of the adrenal medulla or paraganglia are extremely rare and present a diagnostic dilemma.These tumors consist of a neuroendocrine component mixed with a neural component.We describe the imaging characteristics together with the corresponding pathological findings of a composite tumor.Apart from any component-specific imaging findings, the hallmark of this entity is the presence Missouri Star Thread of histologically distinguishable components.

Case presentation A 61-year-old Caucasian man was referred to our hospital due to a suspect lesion found on chest computed tomography carried out for unclear thoracic pain.An abdominal computed tomography scan and ultrasound examination detected a retroperitoneal tumor comprising two different tumor components.Twenty-four-hour urine revealed high levels of normetanephrine, characteristic of a neuroendocrine tumor.An octreoscan prior to surgical procedures revealed multiple osseous and intra-hepatic metastases.

The final histopathological workup revealed a composite paraganglioma with neuroblastoma.Our patient died ten months after the initial diagnosis from tumor-associated complications.Conclusions Composite paragangliomas with neuroblastoma are rare tumors of the retroperitoneum.Such tumors should be Eye Shadow considered in the differential diagnosis of retroperitoneal masses.