Clinical analysis of silent paraganglioma and the literature review:21 cases / 中华内分泌外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the clinical characteristics of silent paraganglioma ( PGL) .Methods A total of 21 patients with silent PGL confirmed by surgical pathology and hospitalized in the First Affiliated Hospital of chongqing Medical University from Mar .2008 to Dec.2013 were enrolled in this study .The clinical manifesta-tions, hormone level, imaging findings, pathologic characteristic, treatment and follow-up data were reviewed and analyzed retrospectively .Results Among the 21 cases of silent PGL , 8 were male and 13 were female, with 47.05 years as the mean age(ranging from 26 to 67 years old).PGL tumors in silent group were mainly located in the right side, and left to right ratio was 2∶5.Silent PGL with tumor diameter 5 cm were 5, 7,and 9 cases respectively.Its constituent ratio was 23.8%, 33.3% and 42.9% respectively, significantly higher compared with that of symptomatic PGL (9.8%,43.9%,and 46.3%respectively).Silent PGL can be i-dentified from other adrenal incidentaloma based on enhanced CT value in each period .Biochemical examination or functional imaging further could facilitate the diagnosis of silent PGL .All the 21 cases were conducted with surgical treatment , and hypertensive crisis occurred to 4 cases during operation .Conclusions Silent PGL is not easy to be detected due to its non-specific clinical manifestations .The diagnosis needs the combined analysis on anatomical imaging characteristics , biochemical examination , functional imaging and pathological findings .Sur-gery is the most effective treatment .Postoperative pathological tips and long-term follow-up are both required for PGL, no matter benign or malignant .