Giant retroperitoneal hemangiopericytoma with paraneoplastic gynecomastia - Case report and literature review

We report on a 38-year-old patient with a giant retroperitoneal hemangioper icytoma associated with bilateral paraneoplastic gynecomastia, which led to an almost uncontrollable hemorrhage on initial surgery due to the extreme hypervascularity of the process. After angiographic evaluation and supersel ective embolization, a complete surgical excision of a hemangiopericytoma w eighing almost 1,000 g could be achieved. To reduce the risk of recurrence adjuvant radiotherapy with 49 Gy followed. Follow-up of 24 months showed no sign of recurrence on CT scans. To our knowledge this is the first reporte d case of hemangiopericytoma associated with a paraneoplastic syndrome. The literature and the therapeutic concepts are presented and discussed. Copyr ight (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.