[Ganglioneuroma of the duodenum]

Ganglioneuroma is an exceptional benign tumour of the duodenum and only three cases have been described previously. We report the case of a 71-year-old male in whom this pathology was incidentally discovered, as it usually happens with this type of tumour. Within rare duodenal nonepithelial tumours, gangliocytic paraganglioma is a fairly well defined entity characterized by a proliferation of neurons, Schwann cells, and endocrine-like epithelial cells. Ganglioneuroma lacks this last type of cells and represents and even rarer finding within tumoral pathology of the duodenum. The histopathogenesis of this tumor is discussed and there are theories that defend an hamartomatous origin against a neoplastic nature.