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Paraganglioma of the infratemporal fossa is exceedingly rare, with no more than a handful of documented cases. Undiagnosed paraganglioma poses a great challenge. We present a 39-year-old hypertensive female, who presented with giddiness and headache for 3 months and four episodes of syncope over 3 months. CT and MRI revealed an enhancing infratemporal region space-occupying mass close proximity to petrous carotid artery. Intraoperatively, the patient had hemodynamic instability (tachycardia and hypertension) when the mass was surgically manipulated. Diagnosis of paraganglioma was suspected, based on hemodynamic instability, which was later confirmed by histopathology. Undiagnosed paraganglioma pose a great challenge to the anesthetic management. Low-threshold of suspicion has to be there to avoid significant morbidity and mortality.

Pheochromocytomas and paraganglionomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors. The multisystem effects of these tumors on the pregnant woman and fetus, the timing of surgery in relation to the pregnancy, and the pharmacological treatment have several anesthetic implications. Case reports on elective cesarean section followed by postpartum resection of the tumor are scarce. A case is presented of a 31-year-old nulliparous female where an antenatal diagnosis of a paraganglionoma was made at 19 weeks gestation for whom an elective cesarean section was performed at 31 weeks gestation under graded lumbar epidural anesthesia, followed by an elective open surgical removal of the tumor six weeks postpartum., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright © 2023, Ballard et al.)

Myotonic dystrophy (DM), though rare, can significantly complicate anesthesia due to muscular and extra-muscular involvement. When this condition is compounded by a pheochromocytoma, anesthetizing such patients becomes extra challenging. We present a case report of a 61-year-old lady with congenital DM, with the whole gamut of associated features, was diagnosed with a noradrenaline secreting paraganglionoma following investigation of refractory hypertension. We anesthetized her for an open resection of the lesion. The conduct of anesthesia and recovery of this patient is described. Our experience suggests that anesthetizing these patients though challenging can be safely managed with relaxant general anesthesia and epidural analgesia with meticulous care pre, intra and post-surgical intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the management and outcome of children with pheochromocytoma and determine the role of cortex preservation in cases of bilateral disease. Methods: Retrospective review of children, below 12 y of age, with pheochromocytoma managed between November 2003 and December 2012 was done. Results: Twelve patients, nine boys and three girls with median age 9 y were enroled. Eleven (92 %) had adrenal tumors and in one it was extra-adrenal. Five (42 %) had bilateral disease. Ten presented with hypertension, one with headache and one with abdominal pain and fever. All were stabilized pre-operatively with alpha and beta blockers and volume expansion. Six children with unilateral disease underwent total adrenalectomy. Out of five with bilateral disease, one child underwent bilateral total adrenalectomy and was later started on hormone replacement. Remaining four underwent total adrenalectomy on one side and partial on the other side. Post-operatively all became symptom free and normotensive and were off medications within 1 mo. Two children developed recurrence 1 mo post-operatively, one with an initial unilateral pheochromocytoma and one with paraganglionoma. At the last follow up, 10 out of 12(83 %) were disease free while two with recurrence are still awaiting surgery. Conclusions: Surgical resection of pheochromocytoma is effective treatment to achieve cure and prolong survival. Cortex preservation should be done in bilateral disease as risk of recurrence in such cases seems to be of lesser significance as compared to the morbidity and mortality of adrenal insufficiency and consequent lifelong hormone replacement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors report an 8-yr-old boy who presented with hypertension, psychosis, and visual disturbances due to a left adrenal phaeochromocytoma which was excised. After 4 years, the child developed multifocal phaeochromocytomas in the left suprarenal area, right adrenal gland, and left para-aortic region. The tumors were excised along with re-implantation of normal adrenal tissue from the right adrenal into the omentum. The course of the disease and the family history were suggestive of von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paraganglionoma of the thyroid is an extremely rare tumour, with fewer than thirty cases reported in the literature. These tumours are believed to arise from the inferior laryngeal paraganglia and are most common in females of middle age. Approximately 30% of head and neck paraganglionomas are hereditary, most frequently due to germline mutations in the succinate dehydrogenase gene family, but also in association with disorders including multiple endocrine neoplasia and von-Hippel-Lindau disease. This entity is frequently mistaken for other lesions, including secondary neuroendocrine tumours and follicular neoplasm. Treatment is by total thyroidectomy, or lobectomy for a solitary lesion. Despite the presence of atypical features, malignant transformation of these tumours has not been observed, with no reported recurrences following resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pheochromocytomas are rare tumors arising from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla and extramedullary sympathetic ganglia. The incidence of asymptomatic disease is rising due to increased detection rates from widespread use of computed tomography. We describe a case of one of the largest documented pheochromocytomas resected in the United States, an 18-cm tumor in a patient who presented with exertional dyspnea, abdominal pain, constipation, weight loss, and intermittent hypertension. After biochemical and appropriate imaging workup, the patient underwent an open resection of the mass., (Copyright© 2018, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)