Non-Functional Paraganglioma of the Urinary Bladder Treated by Transurethral Resection: Report of Two Cases

Abstract

Paraganglioma of the urinary bladder is a rare tumour derived from chromaffin tissue of the sympathetic nervous system. Paraganglioma of the urinary bladder especially the non-functional type is often misdiagnosed as urothelial cancer. Two female patients aged 32 years and 45 years presented with painless haematuria without any symptoms of catecholamine excess. Radiological investigations revealed urinary bladder tumour. The tumour was removed by transurethral resection in both the patients. Histopathological diagnosis was paraganglioma, which was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Complete resection of tumour by transurethral approach is curative in paraganglioma of the urinary bladder. We hereby, also discuss the salient features of nonfunctional paraganglioma of the urinary bladder.

Keywords

• catecholamines
• chromogranin
• neuroendocrine
• pheochromocytoma