DOI: 10.36347/sjmcr.2019.v07i02.007

Pages: 124-126

Paraganglioma of the urinary bladder is extremely rare accounting for less than 0.05% of all bladder neoplasm. Zimmerman and coworkers noted the first instance of paraganglioma of the urinary bladder in 1952. Most patients are young. Age at detection can range from 10 to 70 years. Most common presentation of this tumour is painless haematuria, headache, palpitations and anxiety. Symptoms are paroxysmal and associated with micturation. Episodic hypertension is also encountered. In 2004 the WHO classified pheochromocytoma as endocrine tumours arising from chromaffin cells of adrenal medulla while extra-adrenal tumours are classified as paraganglioma. The distinction between pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma is important due to the risk of malignancy, associated neoplasm and implications on genetic testing. Paraganglioma mainly secrete norepinephrine and adrenal pheochromocytoma epinephrine.