Incidental discovery of a non-secreting bladder paraganglioma: A case report

Paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors derived from extra-adrenal autonomic paraganglia. Bladder paragangliomas are exceptionally uncommon, accounting for only 0.06% of bladder tumors, with about 200 reported cases worldwide. Their presentation varies from asymptomatic disease to hematuria, hypertension, palpitations, or micturition-induced syncope, making diagnosis challenging. This case describes a 54-year-old woman with macroscopic hematuria in whom bladder paraganglioma was incidentally discovered during transurethral resection. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed classic neuroendocrine features without catecholamine secretion. The report highlights the diagnostic difficulty of non-secreting bladder paragangliomas and the need to include them in the differential diagnosis of bladder masses.