Echocardiography in the evaluation of cardiac pheochromocytoma

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance and PET-CT of left atrial paraganglioma

“…Approximately 18% of pheochromocytomas are extra-adrenal [1]. Primary cardiac paragangliomas are extremely rare with less than 50 cases reported in the literature [2]. Recent advances in cross sectional imaging have provided the potential for non-invasive and accurate diagnosis of these lesions [3-5].…”

Right atrial paraganglioma: an unusual primary cardiac tumour

“…Approximately 18% of paraganglioma are found outside the adrenal gland [1]. Primary cardiac paragangliomas are extremely rare with less than 50 cases reported in the literature [2]. Most of these tumours are found in the left atrium while other less frequent sites include the inter-atrial septum, anterior surface of the heart and left ventricle.…”

“…There are only four previous cases of primary paraganglioma arising from the right atrium in the world literature [2,3,9]. All of these cases involved functional tumours with three presenting with persistent hypertension preoperatively and one case demonstrating intraoperative hypertensive crisis on palpation of the tumour [10].…”

“…Iodine 131-labelled meta-iodobenzylguanidine (I-MIBG) scintigraphy has been used for diagnosis especially in cases of resistant hypertension where a phaeochromocytoma is suspected. As a diagnostic tool, CT appears to be of more benefit in retrospect [2] but either CT or MRI is necessary for preoperative staging.…”

Cardiac Malignant Pheochromocytoma with Bone Metastases.

“…Although most come from paraaortic ganglions and are localized in the retroperitoneum and posterior mediastium, pheochromocytoma rarely originates from the juxtacardiac tissues. Since the earliest reports by Bestermanet al (1) andWilson et al (2) in 1974, atleast45 cases have been documented (3). Only two cases, however, have been reported to be definitely malignant with bone metastasis (4,5).…”