Pulmonary chondroma, extra-adrenal paraganglioma, and gastric leiomyosarcoma: Carney's triad

The triad of pulmonary chondroma, extra-adrenal paraganglioma, and gastric leiomyosarcoma has been reported in five patients, all young women. The association of tumors apparently constitutes a syndrome. This paper describes the sixth affected patient, also a young woman, draws attention to the frequency of thoracic paraganglioma in the syndrome, and notes that the pulmonary cartilaginous lesion has frequently been misinterpreted as pulmonary hamartoma. Early exploration of the chest is indicated not only to rule out the possibility of metastatic gastric tumor but also to search for paragangliomas.