An Unusual Entity in Urology: Urinary Bladder Paraganglioma

Abstract

Bladder paraganglioma accounts for < 0.05% of all bladder tumors, and very few cases have been reported to date. Because clinical and radiological findings are often nonspecific, many lesions are misdiagnosed until surgery, exposing patients to preventable perioperative catecholamine crises. We report an unusual case of a 77-year-old woman, in whom a 17-mm bladder paraganglioma was discovered incidentally during imaging for suspected Crohn’s disease. The patient was entirely asymptomatic and had normal catecholamine levels. Transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) achieved complete excision, and no recurrence was detected at 6-month follow-up. This case illustrates that bladder paraganglioma can occur outside the typical age range and without adrenergic symptoms, emphasizing the need to consider this entity in the differential diagnosis of any well-circumscribed, hypervascular bladder mass. Early recognition enables appropriate perioperative planning and long-term multidisciplinary surveillance. We discuss the tumor’s characteristics, management, and the importance of long-term surveillance.