Published online Oct 16, 2014. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i10.591
Revised: July 2, 2014
Accepted: July 25, 2014
Published online: October 16, 2014
Extra-adrenal chromaffin cell-related tumours or paragangliomas are rare, especially in the bladder. In this article, we reported three different clinical cases of bladder paraganglioma, followed by a review of current literature on the pathophysiology and management of bladder paraganglioma. Case 1 involved a 23 years old female patient who complained of a 10-year history of micturition-related headaches, palpitations and diaphoresis; while in case 2, a 58 years old female patient presented with history of painless haematuria and an incidentally diagnosis of a functioning paraganglioma during endoscopic transurethral resection of bladder tumour; and lastly in case 3, a 54 years old male renal transplant recipient was referred to the urology outpatient with a suspicious bladder mass found incidentally on routine transplant workshop.
Core tip: Bladder paraganglioma is a rare condition and patients can present with various clinical presentations. Biochemical profiling and nuclear imaging study can assist in the identification of this lesion. Preoperative care with volume hydration and adrenergic blockade are often necessary and surgery remains the only cure for these patients.