Ganglioneuroma of the neck. (Imaging Clinic).A ganglioneuroma is an uncommon tumor of the sympathetic nervous system. It generally appears as a solitary mass in the mediastinum mediastinum /me·di·as·ti·num/ (me?de-ah-sti´num) pl. mediasti´na [L.] 1. a median septum or partition. 2. or abdomen; on rare occasions, it occurs in the neck. (1) A ganglioneuroma is a fully differentiated, benign counterpart of a neuroblastoma Neuroblastoma Definition Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that usually originates either in the tissues of the adrenal gland or in the ganglia of the abdomen or in the ganglia of the nervous system. . (2) It is a well-circumscribed tumor with a fibrous capsule that arises from sympathetic ganglion cells along the paraspinal axis. Most ganglioneuromas occur in young patients, generally older than 10 years of age. They are usually located in the posterior mediastinum and retroperitoneum. According to an Armed Forces Institute of Pathology Armed Forces Institute of Pathology A section of the US military which provides consultations, reference atlases and educational programs for pathologists report of 88 documented cases of ganglioneuroma, 34 (38.6%) occurred in the posterior mediastinum, 27 (30.7%) in the retroperitoneum, 19 (21.6%) in the adrenal glands, five (5.7%) in the pelvis, two (2.3%) in the cervical area, and one (1.1%) in the parapharyngeal space. (3) Ganglioneuromas can appear as large masses, and they contain calcifications in one-third of cases. We evaluated a 28-year-old man who had a painless mass in the left side of his neck and no other associated symptomatology symptomatology /symp·to·ma·tol·o·gy/ (simp?to-mah-tol´ah-je) 1. the branch of medicine dealing with symptoms. 2. the combined symptoms of a disease. symp·to·ma·tol·o·gy n. . Computed tomography (CT) detected a well-marginated, soft-tissue mass of low density in the left carotid space that measured approximately 4 x 2 x 4.3 cm (figure). There was no evidence of enhancement following administration of contrast medium, which differentiated the mass from a schwannoma, neurofibroma neurofibroma /neu·ro·fi·bro·ma/ (-fi-bro´mah) a tumor of peripheral nerves due to abnormal proliferation of Schwann cells. neu·ro·fi·bro·ma n. , and paraganglioma. Complete surgical excision was accomplished. References (1.) Shotton JC, Milton CM, Allen JP. Multiple ganglioneuroma of the neck. J Laryngol Otol 1992; 106:277-8. (2.) Weber AL, Montandon C, Robson CD. Neurogenic neurogenic /neu·ro·gen·ic/ (-jen´ik) 1. forming nervous tissue. 2. originating in the nervous system or from a lesion in the nervous system. tumors of the neck. Radiol Clin North Am 2000;38: 1077-90. (3.) Enzinger FM, Weiss SW. Primitive neuroectodermal tumors and related lesions. In: Soft Tissue Tumors. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Mosby, 1995:929-64. From the Department of Otorhinolaryngology otorhinolaryngology /oto·rhi·no·lar·yn·gol·o·gy/ (-ri?no-lar?ing-gol´ah-je) the branch of medicine dealing with the ear, nose, and throat. o·to·rhi·no·lar·yn·gol·o·gy n. (Dr. Friedlander and Dr. Hunt) and the Department of Radiology (Dr. Palacios), Louisiana State University, New Orleans. |
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