Nonfunctional Pelvic Retroperitoneal Paraganglioma Mimicking Postmenopausal Adnexal Mass

Abstract

Paraganglioma is a rare tumor originates from paraganglial tissue which is composed of extraadrenal chromaffin cells. The pelvic and retroperitoneal location of this tumor is extremely rare and it can mimic adnexal mass. The diagnosis of paraganglioma in this region is difficult. The exact diagnosis may only be reached after the total excision and histopathologic examination of the tumor. In this report, for the first time, we presented a postmenopausal woman who had nonfunctional retroperitoneal paraganglioma mimicking postmenopausal adnexal mass. This case emphasizes that extraadrenal paraganglioma should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis in all patients including postmenopausal woman with retroperitoneal mass even in the presence of nonspecific symptoms like abdominal pain.

Keywords

• Adnexal mass, paraganglioma, retroperitoneal area, menopause

Nonfunctional Pelvic Retroperitoneal Paraganglioma Mimicking Postmenopausal Adnexal Mass

Öz

Paraganglioma, ekstraadrenal kromafin hücrelerinden oluşan paraganglial dokudan köken alan nadir bir tümördür. Tümörün pelvik ve retroperitoneal lokalizasyonu oldukça nadirdir ve adneksiyal kitleyi taklit edebilir. Bu bölgedeki paragangliomanın tanısı zordur. Kesin tanı, sadece total eksizyon ve tümörün histopatolojik incelemesi sonrasında konulabilir. Bu makalede, ilk kez, postmenopozal adneksiyal kitleyi taklit eden nonfonksiyonel retroperitoneal paragangliomalı postmenopozal kadın olguyu sunduk. Bu vakada vurgulanan; ekstraadrenal paragangliomanın karın ağrısı gibi spesifik olmayan semptom varlığında dahi postmenopozal retroperitoneal kadınlar da dahil olmak üzere her hastada ayırıcı tanıda akılda tutulması gerektiğidir

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Adneksiyal kitle, paraganglioma, retroperitoneal bölge, menapoz

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