Long term follow up of 3 patients after resection of mediastinal paraganglioma necessitating cardiopulmonary bypass: case series

Paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumors originating from extra-adrenal paraganglia that often require intricate surgical resection. Specifically, when paragangliomas are localized within the thorax and coexist with cardiovascular structures, they can be challenging to surgically resect. Here, we aimed to review three cases of paragangliomas intruding the aortopulmonary (AP) window that required cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) as an effective surgical approach. All patients were diagnosed using preoperative biochemical analysis, computed tomography-positron emission tomography (CT-PET) scans, endobronchial ultrasounds, and biopsies. Within these three cases of female patients presenting with paragangliomas within the AP window, we observed a high success rate in complete surgical resection and no long-term recurrence following resections with CPB. Overall, these cases showed that surgical resection of paragangliomas which are intruding vital cardiovascular structures within the AP window can achieve positive long-term patient outcomes when using CPB.