A Paraganglioma presenting with a giant mediastinal mass: A case report

Paragangliomas are considerably rare and usually benign chromaffin cell tumors originating from sympathetic ganglia outside adrenal medulla. They are usually asymptomatic and detected incidentally. Tumor spread is through both lymphatic and hematogenous route. However, they may cause symptoms when excessively grown. They can be successfully treated with surgery even if they reach a gigantic size when they are diagnosed at an early period and lack metastases. From this perspective, early diagnosis and treatment of them is of great importance. In this study we present a patient presenting to emergency department with dyspnea and diagnosed with a giant paraganglioma in the anterior mediastinum. © 2014 OMU.