Paragangliomas and Anemia: Literature Review and Case Report.

Maria-Daniela Tănăsescu, Ștefan Popescu, Alexandru Mincă, Teodora Isac, Emel Suliman, Maria Mihaela Grigorie, Emine Suliman, Daniel Stăniloaie, Delia Timofte, Dorin Ionescu

Journal: Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) 2023;59(11):1925

PMID: 38003974

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Abstract

Paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors that arise from the extra-adrenal autonomic paraganglia, i.e., small organs consisting mainly of neuroendocrine cells that are derived from the embryonic neural crest and have the ability to secrete catecholamines. Paragangliomas can derive from either parasympathetic or sympathetic paraganglia. Most of the parasympathetic ganglia-derived paragangliomas are nonfunctional, and symptoms result from mass effect. Conversely, the sympathetic paragangliomas are functional and produce catecholamine. Although such patients could have symptoms similar to pheochromocytoma, mass effect symptoms, or non-specific symptoms, being benign tumors, they can also present with anemia, specifically iron-deficiency anemia. Considering that neoplastic pathology is chronically accompanied by moderate, normochromic, normocytic anemia, association between paragangliomas that are mostly benign but with a potential degree of malignancy and anemia is not as frequent as expected, with only 12 cases reported in the literature. We report a case of a 54-year-old female patient diagnosed with a paraganglioma of the carotid glomus accompanied by severe normochromic, normocytic anemia, which reached normal limits after excision of the paraganglioma.

Address: Department 1 of Medical Semiology, Discipline of Medical Semiology and Nephrology, Bucharest Emergency University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, 'Carol Davila' University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Dionisie Lupu Street, No. 37, Sector 2, 020021 Bucharest, Romania.; Department of Nephrology, Bucharest Emergency University Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania.; Department 2 of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, 'Carol Davila' University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania.; Department 10 of General Surgery, Discipline of Surgery I, Bucharest Emergency University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, 'Carol Davila' University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania.; Department 3 of Dentistry III, Discipline of Endodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, 'Carol Davila' University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania.; Department 3 of Complementary Sciences, Discipline of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, 'Carol Davila' University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 020021 Bucharest, Romania.; 21st Department of General Surgery, Bucharest Emergency University Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania.; Department of Dialysis, Bucharest Emergency University Hospital, 050098 Bucharest, Romania.

DOI: 10.3390/medicina59111925

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MeSH Terms: Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Paraganglioma, Pheochromocytoma, Catecholamines, Adrenal Gland Neoplasms, Anemia