title: Much more than anxiety...
abstract: Pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma are rare neuroendocrine tumours in paediatric ages. We report a case of a 14-year-old girl referred to our oncology centre due to an abdominal mass. She had an 11-month history of paroxysmal episodes of headache, nausea, dizziness, palpitations and visual disturbances. Imaging studies showed a left paravertebral mass measuring 5.8 × 4.6 × 3.5 cm. Metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy revealed an abnormal hyperfixation on the left upper quadrant. Chromogranin A was elevated, as well as normetanephrine. The patient was submitted to surgery during which a connection between this mass and the adrenal gland was found. A diagnosis of pheochromocytoma was performed.
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics Department, Hospital de Braga, Braga, Portugal.
authors.forename: Joana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics Department, Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto, Oporto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics Department, Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto, Oporto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Afonso
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics Department, Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto, Oporto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pinto
mesh_terms: D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine / Q000378:metabolism*; D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery*; D000293:Adolescent; D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D001007:Anxiety; D053379:Chromogranin A / Q000652:urine; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009647:Normetanephrine / Q000652:urine; D010235:Paraganglioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D010673:Pheochromocytoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D053379:Chromogranin A; D009647:Normetanephrine; D019797:3-Iodobenzylguanidine