Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Mar 30:5:5.
doi: 10.1186/1742-6413-5-5.

A 5-year-old girl with a congenital ganglioneuroma diagnosed by fine needle aspiration biopsy: a case report

Marco A Ponce-Camacho  1 , Ricardo Diaz de Leon-Medina, Ivett Miranda-Maldonado, Raquel Garza-Guajardo, Jorge Hernandez-Salazar, Oralia Barboza-Quintana
Affiliations

A 5-year-old girl with a congenital ganglioneuroma diagnosed by fine needle aspiration biopsy: a case report

Marco A Ponce-Camacho et al. Cytojournal. .

Abstract

Introduction: Ganglioneuroma is a rare, benign, neuroblastic tumor arising mainly from the central or peripheral autonomic nervous system, especially the sympathetic system. The most affected anatomical sites are the posterior mediastinum, retroperitoneum, adrenal gland and head and neck soft tissue. In the current literature, reports of ganglioneuroma diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration and its cytological appearance are scarce.

Case presentation: A 5-year-old girl presented with a mass in the cervical region since birth. Laboratory routine tests were within normal limits, ultrasonography demonstrated a solid and well-circumscribed lesion in the soft tissues of the cervical region. Fine needle aspiration biopsy was carried out, and the obtained smears showed a mixture of mature ganglion cells and groups of spindle cells suggestive of schwann cell origin. A diagnosis of ganglioneuroma was suggested. Core biopsy and surgical resection confirmed this diagnosis.

Conclusion: Congenital ganglioneuroma of the cervical region is an uncommon soft tissue benign neoplasm of neuroblastic origin, and it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of head and neck pediatric soft tissue tumors. Fine needle aspiration biopsy technique is a reliable method that can be used with confidence when dealing with pediatric soft tissue tumors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cytomorphology. a) Sheets of closely packed spindle cells. Pap stain 200×. b) Spindle shaped cells intermixed with clusters of mature ganglion cells (arrows). Pap stain 400×. c) Note the slender pinpointed borders of wavy nuclei. Pap stain 400×. d) High power view of oval cells with huge nuclei and conspicuous nucleoli, typical features of a mature ganglion cell. Pap stain 400×.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Biopsy findings. a) Schwann cells and ganglion cells, the typical features of a ganglioneuroma, are seen in this microphotograph. Hematoxilin & Eosin 200×. b) High power view of a group of mature ganglion cells. Hematoxilin & Eosin 400×.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Leeson MC, Hite M. Ganglioneuroma of the sacrum. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 1989;246:102–105. - PubMed
    1. Lamichhane N, Dhakal HP. Ganglioneuroma of pelvis-an unique presentation in a young man. Nepal Med Coll J. 2006;8:288–91. http://www.nmcth.edu/nmcj_articles_pdf/volume_wise/nmcj_vol8_no4/Nirmal_... - PubMed
    1. Kaufman MR, Rhee JS, Fliegelman LJ, Costantino PD. Ganglioneuroma of the parapharyngeal space in a pediatric patient. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001;124:702–704. doi: 10.1067/mhn.2001.115371. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Joshi VV. Peripheral neuroblastic tumors: pathologic classification based on recommendations of international neuroblastoma pathology committee (Modification of shimada classification) Pediatr Dev Pathol. 2000;3:184–199. doi: 10.1007/s100240050024. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Albonico G, Pellegrino G, Maisano M, Kardon DE. Ganglioneuroma of parapharyngeal region. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2001;125:1217–1278. - PubMed