INTRAABDOMINAL PARAGANGLIOMA - CLINICAL, FUNCTIONAL, STRUCTURAL, AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF AN EXCEPTIONAL CASE

Paragangliomas are tumors, derived from paraganglionar system, able to synthesize and to liberate substances with neuroregulatory activity. They are rare, mainly in the neck located, difficult to anatomophatolo gic diagnose, and of poor prognosis. They may present as space-occupay ing lesions or as secondary syndromes due to the liberation of biologi cally active substances. Whenever it is possible, surgical excision is the treatment of choice. Nor chemotherapy, nor immunomodulators, like alpha-2b-interferon, have provided satisfactory results. A 57 year-ol d man, with a non-surgical paraganglioma characterized by abdominal ma ss associated with liver and bone metastasis, is presented. The rarity of the intra-abdominal presentation, the image study findings, the hi stophatological and immunohistochemical examinations, and the evolutio n after alpha-2b-interferon therapy are analyzed.