paraganglioma
A paraganglioma is a rare neuroendocrine neoplasm that may develop at various body sites (including the head, neck, thorax and abdomen). When the same type of tumor is found in the adrenal gland, they are referred to as a pheochromocytoma. They are rare tumors, with an overall estimated incidence of 1 in 300,000. There is no test that determines benign from malignant tumors; long-term follow-up is therefore recommended for all individuals with paraganglioma.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).name
- Paraganglioma
- Medical condition (new).synonyms
- Chemodectoma, paraganglioma, carotid body tumour, glomus cell tumour
- Medical condition (new).image
- Carotid body tumour 2 intermed mag.jpg
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Micrograph of a carotid body tumor (a type of paraganglioma)
via Wikipedia infobox
Research
28,516 papersvia PubMed
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Genetics
- Pathology
- Sites of origin
- Diagnosis
- Classification
- Treatment
- Additional images
- See also
- References
- External links
A paraganglioma is a rare neuroendocrine neoplasm that may develop at various body sites (including the head, neck, thorax and abdomen). When the same type of tumor is found in the adrenal gland, they are referred to as a pheochromocytoma. They are rare tumors, with an overall estimated incidence of 1 in 300,000. There is no test that determines benign from malignant tumors; long-term follow-up is therefore recommended for all individuals with paraganglioma.
==Signs and symptoms== Most paragangliomas are asymptomatic, present as a painless mass, or create symptoms such as hypertension, tachycardia, headache, and palpitations. While all contain neurosecretory granules, only in 1–3% of cases is secretion of hormones such as catecholamines abundant enough to be clinically significant; in that case manifestations often resemble those of pheochromocytomas (intra-medullary paraganglioma).