A Giant Urinary Bladder Paraganglioma

Abstract

Paragangliomas are catec holam ine-s ecret ing neuroendocrine tumors originating from extraadrenal neural crest cells. Urinary bladder paragangliomas are extremely rare and usually present with micturition-related hypertension, palpitations, headaches, dizziness, and sweating. We report a middle-aged female with a giant urinary bladder paraganglioma that was symptomatic for 6 years but unfortunately remained undiagnosed for more than half a decade. The patient exhibited the typical noradrenergic biochemical phenotype that characterizes paragangliomas. The patient was successfully managed with subtotal cystectomy and augmentation cystoplasty. Ours is the patient with largest reported case of urinary bladder paraganglioma and the only one managed with augmentation cystoplasty.