Autosomal dominant malignant and catecholamine-producing paraganglioma caused by a splice donor site mutation in SDHC

Mutations in SDHC cause autosomal dominant paraganglioma, type 3 (PGL3), and have to date been demonstrated in only one family. Here, we report on a novel mutation in a patient with a malignant, catecholamine-producing paraganglioma at the carotid bifurcation. The mutation is a G--T transversion at position +1 of intron 5 of the SDHC gene, leading to the deletion of exon 5 and a shift in the reading frame.