Unexpected Findings During the Anesthetic Management of a Patient With a Cardiac Paraganglioma

Cardiac Paragangliomas

“…The transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was less sensitive than transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), which may lead to a false negative diagnosis, especially when the tumor was located in the posterior aspect of the pericardium. A pericardial effusion may also affect the final diagnosis, although it rarely occurred . In this study, we identified 74 cases with echocardiography information; 13 out of 74 were missed via TTE (sensitivity, 82.4%; we regarded the statement of “echocardiography” without special descriptions as TTE), in which five were identified via TEE.…”

“…A pericardial effusion may also affect the final diagnosis, although it rarely occurred. 12,13 In this study, we identified 74 cases with echocardiography information; 13 out of 74 were missed via TTE (sensitivity, 82.4%; we regarded the statement of ''echocardiography'' without special descriptions as TTE), in which five were identified via TEE.…”

Cardiac Paraganglioma: Diagnostic and Surgical Challenges

“…The following case was previously published from an anesthesiology perspective by Soran et al 11 A 67‐year‐old female with a past medical history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia was evaluated for exercise‐induced chest pain. A TTE suggested a cardiac mass at the base of the heart.…”

“…The term paraganglia was first used by the histologist Kohn in the early 1900s to describe catecholamine‐producing cells, 1 whereas Wilson et al was first to report a case of a resected cardiac paraganglioma in 1974 2 . To date, at least 72 cases 3–15 of cardiac paragangliomas have been described in the literature. In this paper, we present two cases of cardiac paragangliomas and discuss the diagnostic and surgical challenges associated with their management.…”

Anaesthetic Management of Paraganglioma Excision: A Case Report

“…Most of the tumors arise in the adrenal medulla as pheochromocytoma, also known as intra-adrenal paraganglioma, while the remaining arise in aortic-sympathetic extra-adrenal paraganglia along the paravertebral axis as extra-adrenal sympathetic paragangliomas. Paragangliomas account for 15 to 20 percent of pheochromocytomas and have a high incidence of malignancy (13 percent to 26 percent) [1][2][3][4][5] . Their excision is considered extremely difficult due to their high vascularity and adherence to multiple adjacent structures, including the aorta, vena cava, and renal and mesenteric vessels.…”