An unusual etiology of hypertension in a 5-year-old boy

Ganglioneuromas are rare benign tumors of neural crest origin, arising from ganglia of the sympathetic nervous system and adrenal medulla. These masses are usually detected during the first 2 decades of life and are generally discovered incidentally. We present a 5-year-old boy with sickle beta-thalassemia whose hypertension is caused by a perihilar ganglioneuroma encasing the right renal artery and distorting the right renal vein. The tumor was resected and the child's blood pressure subsequently normalized.