Mesenteric paraganglioma: Report of a case

• Published in: World journal of gastrointestinal surgery 2013-03, Vol.5 (3), p.62-67
• Main Authors: Fujita, Takeshi, Kamiya, Kinji, Takahashi, Yoshiaki, Miyazaki, Shinichiro, Iino, Ichirota, Kikuchi, Hirotoshi, Hiramatsu, Yoshihiro, Ohta, Manabu, Baba, Satoshi, Konno, Hiroyuki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Case Report; diagnosis; Extra-adrenal; management; Mesenteric; paraganglioma; Pheochromocytoma; Preoperative; Surgical; tumor
• ISSN: 1948-9366; 1948-9366
• DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v5.i3.62

We report a rare case of paraganglioma that developed in the mesentery of terminal ileum. A 78-year-old woman complained of right-sided abdominal pain. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a solid heterogeneously enhanced mass in the right lower abdomen. The tumor was laparoscopically excised. The mesenteric tumor was well circumscribed, ovoid, and encapsulated and measured 3 cm × 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm. Histological examination showed a cellular neoplasm comprised of nests and groups of tumor cells separated by fibrovascular connective tissue, giving a characteristic nested Zellballen pattern. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for chromogranin, synaptophysin, CD56, and vimentin and negative for cytokeratins, SMA, CD34, CD117/c-kit and S100. On the basis of histologic and immunohistochemical features, a diagnosis of mesenteric paraganglioma was made. The operative and postoperative courses were unremarkable, and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 7. She was doing well 1 year after the surgery with no signs of recurrence. Extra-adrenal paragangliomas most commonly develop adjacent to the aorta, particularly the area corresponding to the organ of Zuckerkandl. Mesenteric paraganglioma, as in our case, is extremely rare; only 11 cases have been reported in the literature. We herein discuss the clinical findings of these cases.