Primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the anterior mediastinum presenting with trepopnea.

We report the case of an elderly man who had visited many physicians with breathlessness and was treated in an outpatient care. The cause of breathlessness was not evaluated, which turned out to be a slow-growing tumour in the mediastinum. Later, we diagnosed it to be a case of neuroendocrine carcinoma arising from the anterior mediastinum. The patient had succumbed to death because of the delayed diagnosis. A simple chest X-ray could have helped to make an early diagnosis. This case is reported with the intention to bring into light the effect of delayed diagnosis of a rare disease presenting with a very common symptom.