Incidence of Horner syndrome associated with neuroblastic disease

Horner syndrome (HS) manifests in unilateral ptosis, miosis, enophthalmos, and anhedonia. It is most commonly caused by trauma or surgical procedures, but can also occur in pediatric patients as a result of tumors, especially neuroblastoma (NBL). The objective of this study was to analyze the incidence of HS in patients diagnosed with NBL.

A retrospective analysis of data collected at the Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, and Transplantology from 2004 to 2019 was performed. The study group included 119 patients younger than 18 years old, with 62 girls and 57 boys. All of them were diagnosed with a neuroblastic tumor.

Among the 119 patients, eight children (6.72%) were diagnosed with HS associated with NBL. Three of these patients presented to the clinic with HS, whereas HS developed after the surgical procedure to remove the tumor in four patients. The adrenal gland was the most frequent localization of the tumor. However, HS occurred more frequently in patients with mediastinum tumors. As a presenting symptom, HS occurred in 2 of 11 cases (18.18%) with mediastinum localization. All of the patients with HS were younger than 2 years old.

Investigation of the cause of isolated HS is crucial because it can be the first symptom of NBL. However, the surgical procedure itself increases the risk of HS as a complication of NBL treatment.