A Case of Paraganglioma Presenting as Stroke

ABSTRACT

Paraganglioma is a pheochromocytoma arising from chromaffin cells in peripheral ganglia and extremely rare. Although pheochromocytoma occurs only in approximately 0.1% of the hypertensive population, it has the significance since it is a curable disease. Pheochromocytoma shows variable symptoms of anxiety, headache, precordial and epigastric distress, blanching of the extremities, perioral pallor, shortness of breath, tachycardia, palpitation, nausea or vomiting, and dizziness besides persistent or paroxysmal hypertension. Few cases of cerebral infarct or hemorrhage have been reported also. There has been no report of lacunar infarct caused by paraganglioma in this country since it occurs rarely. Here we shall report a case of paraganglioma with ataxic hemiparesis.