Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T20:18:44.159Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Paraganglioma: an unusual tumour of the parathyroid gland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

W. G. McCluggage*
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Royal Group of Hospitals, Belfast.
C. H. S. Cameron
Affiliation:
School of Clinical Medicine, The Queen's University of Belfast.
D. Brooker
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Royal Group of Hospitals, Belfast.
M. D. O'Hara
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, Royal Group of Hospitals, Belfast. School of Clinical Medicine, The Queen's University of Belfast.
*
Address for correspondence: Dr W. G. McCluggage, Department of Pathology, Royal Group of Hospitals Trust, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BL. Fax: 01232 233643

Abstract

A case of paraganglioma arising within a parathyroid gland is reported. The lesion was an incidental finding in a block dissection of neck performed for squamous carcinoma of the pharynx. A well-circumscribed lesion, exhibiting the characteristic pathological features of a paraganglioma, was embedded within the right inferior parathyroid gland. Due to its location, the chief histological differential diagnosis was an unusual variant of parathyroid adenoma. Immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy assisted in reaching a diagnosis. This, as far as we are aware, is the first reported case of a paraganglioma of the parathyroid gland.

Type
Pathology in Focus
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achilles, E., Padberg, B. C., Holl, K., Kloppel, G., Schroder, S. (1991) Immunocytochemistry of paragangliomas – value of staining for S–100 protein and glial fibrillary acid protein in diagnosis and prognosis. Histopathology 18, 453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brownlee, R. E., Shockley, W. W. (1992) Thyroid paraganglioma. Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology 101, 293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buss, D. H., Marshall, R. B., Baird, F. G., Myers, R. T. (1980) Paraganglioma of the thyroid gland. American Journal of Surgical Pathology 4, 589.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Enzinger, F. M., Weiss, S. W. (1988) Soft tissue tumors. C. V. Mosby, St Louis, pp 836860.Google Scholar
Glenner, G. G., Grimley, P. M. (1974) Tumors of the extraadrenal paraganglion system (including chemoreceptors). In Atlas of Tumour Pathology. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Fascicle 9, second series, pp 193.Google Scholar
Haegert, D. G., Wang, N. S., Ferrer, P. A., Seemayer, T. A., Thelmo, W. (1974) Non-chromaffin paragangliomatosis manifesting as a cold thyroid nodule. American Journal of Clinical Pathology 61, 561.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kay, S., Montague, J. W., Dodd, R. W. (1975) Non-chromaffin paraganglioma (chemodectoma) of thyroid region. Cancer 36, 582.3.0.CO;2-O>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lack, E. E., Cubilla, A. L., Woodruff, J. M., Farr, H. W. (1977) Paragangliomas of the head and neck region: a clinical study of 69 patients. Cancer 39, 397.3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lack, E. E., Cubilla, A. L., Woodruff, J. M. (1979) Paragangliomas of the head and neck region: a pathologic study of tumours from 71 patients. Human Pathology 10, 191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Michal, M. (1993) Ectopic parathyroid within a neck paraganglion. Histopathology 21, 85.Google Scholar
Mitsudo, S. M., Grajower, M. D., Balbi, H., Silver, C. (1987) Malignant paraganglioma of the thyroid gland. Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine 111, 378.Google ScholarPubMed
Wilson, B. S., Lloyd, R. V. (1984) Detection of chromogranin in neuroendocrine cells with a monoclonal antibody. American Journal of Pathology 115, 458.Google ScholarPubMed
Zak, F., Lawson, W. (1972) Glomic (paraganglionic) tissue in the larynx and capsule of the thyroid gland. Mount Sinai Journal of Medicine 39, 82.Google ScholarPubMed