Introduction:

paragangliomas are very rare extra-adrenal tumors originating from the autonomic nervous system. They are classified in functioning or non-functioning tumors, according to the production of catecholamines.

Patient information:

40-year-old woman, with a history of severe arterial hypertension, who had been treated with three hypotensive drugs without obtaining control; she began to suffer diffuse abdominal pain that increased, associated with hyperpolymenorrhea and a periumbilical tumor of approximately 8 cm, painful and mobile. Laboratory tests were normal. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging confirmed the diagnosis of an 8×5 cm retroperitoneal tumor attached to the aorta and displacing the inferior cava. It was necessary to carry out a highly complex surgical intervention. A tumor was found and the histological and immunohistochemical results confirmed the existence of a non-functioning extra-adrenal paraganglioma.

Conclusions:

retroperitoneal paraganglioma is a rare tumor, as shown by statistics. The diagnosis was made, fundamentally, by imaging, histological and immunohistochemical studies. Treatment is fundamentally surgical, as was performed in this patient.

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