Hypertension secondary to paraganglioma: case report and review of the literature

Abstract

We report the case of a 25 year-old man with a history of transient stroke during adolescence, and longstanding uncontrolled hypertension who presented with palpitations, diaphoresis and headache. He was diagnosed with a paraaortic paraganglioma associated with catecholamine hypersecretion, confirmed by histopathology. There was complete resolution of the symptoms after removal of the tumor. Paraganglioma, a rare extra-adrenal tumor, derived from chromaffin cells, should be considered in the diagnosis of secondary hypertension. We performed a literature review of paraganglioma cases with catecholamine hypersecretion, and associated hypertension.

Keywords

• Hypertension
• Paraganglioma
• Pheochromocytoma extra-adrenal