Aorticopulmonary paraganglioma.

We describe a 61-year-old woman with an anterior mediastinal paraganglioma. The patient complained of a chronic cough that had lasted about 6 months. Her chest computed tomography (CT) showed a highly enhanced mediastinal tumor in the aorticopulmonary window. We surgically resected this tumor thorough a left anterior thoracotomy. Although numerous feeding vessels and firm adhesions with the pericardium hindered the procedure, macroscopically complete resection was achieved. Postoperatively, the tumor was diagnosed as an aorticopulmonary paraganglioma. As these highly enhanced tumors in the anterior mediastinum on CT images are unusual, a differential diagnosis including mediastinal hemangioma, epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, Castleman's disease, choriocarcinoma, metastatic tumor (especially from renal cell carcinoma), and paraganglioma should be considered.