Primary retroperitoneal paraganglioma mimicking gastric GIST: Case report

Abdelilah El-Bakouri, Kabira Falousse*, Siham Elkinani, Mounir Bouali, Khalid El-Hattabi, Fatima Zahra Bensardi and Abdelaziz Fadil

Introduction: A paraganglioma is a tumor originating from the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system. Its diagnosis is sometimes difficult, especially if it occurs in an atypical location. We report the case of a patient who presented with a diagnosis of gastric GIST and underwent surgical resection and whose postoperative histopathological examination revealed that it was a paraganglioma.

Case report: A 38-year-old female patient who underwent cesarean section one year ago, had isolated epigastralgia for two years, the clinical examination was without abnormalities, and the patient benefited from an oesogastroduodenal fibroscopy showing an extrinsic compression aspect at the level of the greater curvature, the abdominal CT scan showed an 8 cm intraperitoneal mass in contact with the lesser gastric curvature evoking a gastrointestinal stromal tumor aspect. The biological work-up was without abnormalities. Surgery was performed to remove the retroperitoneal mass and a final diagnosis of paraganglioma was made, eliminating the initial diagnosis of gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

Discussion: There are lessons to be learned from our case first, paraganglioma can be misdiagnosed. Second, misdiagnosis can be misled by clinical diagnosis and imaging. Third, misdiagnosis can lead to high morbidities and mortality.

Conclusion: The correct knowledge of this pathology, including the differential diagnosis, is fundamental to establishing the correct diagnosis. In addition, close follow-up of these cases should be considered because of the high risk of metastatic disease.

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Published on: May 31, 2024 Pages: 7-9

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/2455-2283.000121
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