Garduño JP, Durán MA, Chávez ML, Castro GL, Solís SV, Olvera RJE

Language: Spanish
References: 10
Page: 99-103
PDF size: 227.77 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Paragangliomas originate in the extraadrenal paraganglia of the neural crest which constitute the neuroendocrine system. Extraadrenal paragangliomas originate more frequently in the abdomen (85%), others in the thoracic region (12%), and more rarely, in the head and neck region (3%). Two post-mortem cases of paragangliomas are presented. The first case presented in a 60 year-old woman who had a clinical history of cephalea, bradypsychia and apraxia, she died of respiratory complications. The autopsy showed, gray-colored tumor was found at the pontocerebellar angle, which was shown to be a paraganglioma on microscopic and immunohistochemical examination. The second case presented in a 48 year-old man with a previous diagnosis of retroperitoneal paraganglioma, who died of a brain hemorrhage. At autopsy a solid white-gray tumor was found located on the right side of the abdominal aorta, with metastatic lesions in lung and liver. At the electronic examination, a paraganglioma was diagnosed, with corroborating findings at the ultrastructural level. There are no reliable means to distinguish between benign and malignant paragangliomas based only on its histopathological features. Invasion and metastatic disease are the factors that determine a malignant paraganglioma.

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