A Resected Case of Retroperitoneal Paraganglioma with Multiple Metastases 8 Years after the Primary Operation

Kentaro Chochi, Kazuo Hatsuse, Hironori Tsujimoto, Hidekazu Sugasawa, Jiro Omata, Takahiro Sueyama, Shinsuke Aida* and Hidetaka Mochizuki

Department of Surgery I and Department of Laboratory Medicine*, National Defense Medical College

A 62-year-old woman whose retroperitoneal tumor was extirpated in July 1996 was found pathologically to have paraganglioma without mitosis. Six years later, abdominal ultrasonography detected a highly echoic lesion in the S8 hepatic segment, and she was followed up for suspected hemangioma. CT and ultrasonography showed progressive hepatic tumor growth, and ¹³¹I-MIBG scintigraphy showed hot spots in the right hepatic lobe, left upper abdomen, and pelvis. Extended right hepatectomy and tumor extirpation in the left paracolic gutter and perirectum were done on October 2004 under a diagnosis of multiple metastases of paraganglioma. Histologically and immunohistochemically, resected tumors were paraganglioma and diagnosed as the multiple metastases of the previously resected retroperitoneal paraganglioma. Paraganglioma may require long postoperative observation because metastasis recurrence may occur long after resection.

Key words
retroperitoneal tumor, paraganglioma, multiple metastases

Reprint requests
Kentaro Chochi Department of Surgery I, National Defense Medical College
3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, 359-8513 JAPAN

Accepted
March 30, 2005

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