Ganglioneuroma of the adrenal gland. Case report

Ganglioneuroma of the adrenal gland is a rare benign tumour. It comes from the cells of the neural crest and should represent the maturation of the neuroblastoma. Usually it is asymptomatic, but its size increases slowly and when recognized its volume can be remarkable. Paraneoplastic syndromes have been described. Often the diagnosis is incidental ("adrenal incidentalomas"), ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) are very important, especially CT that can differentiate ganglioneuroma from the cortical carcinoma. Adrenalectomy is the treatment of choice and the prognosis is usually excellent. In the case described by the authors the diagnosis was incidental through abdominal ultrasonography performed in order to evaluate the origin of a dyspeptic symptomatology which had started 2 years before. CT confirmed the presence of the mass in the right adrenal gland and surgical treatment was performed in consideration of the size of the mass. The histological diagnosis was ganglioneuroma and 3 years after surgery the patient does not show any sign of recurrence.