Pentalogy of Fallot and cardiac paraganglioma: a case report

Primary cardiac tumors are rare. Of these the majorities are benign and about 75% are atrial myxomas. One of the rarest tumors affecting the heart is a cardiac paraganglioma. We report an unusual case of a left ventricular paraganglioma discovered during autopsy in a 22-year female patient, a case of sudden death. This patient also had coexistent Pentalogy of Fallots along with transposition of pulmonary trunk to the left ventricle, a very rare congenital cyanotic heart disease. Chronic hypoxia due to congenital cyanotic heart disease is supposed to be the cause of development of paraganglioma in heart in these patients.