Unusual cause of massive hemothorax: spontaneous rupture of nonfunctioning mediastinal paraganglioma.

Mediastinal paraganglioma is a rare neurogenic tumor with a hypervascular feature. The spontaneous rupture of mediastinal paraganglioma is an unusual cause of massive hemothorax. Here we present a case of 39-year-old man with massive hemothorax due to the spontaneous rupture of a mediastinal paraganglioma. The man underwent successful resection of tumor and had an uneventful recovery. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of spontaneous rupture of nonfunctioning mediastinal paraganglioma.