A case of paraganglioma of the retroperitoneum diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology is described. A 60-year-old man presented with abdominal discomfort for 4 months. The smear revealed cellular sheets with partly rosettoid appearance. Many piexiform capillaries were distributed between the cellular sheets or encircled the cellular nests forming zell-ballen pattern. The tumor cells were monotonous and oval to round. The cytoplasm was amphophillc, finely granular and poorly defined. The nuclei were round and had evenly dispersed chromatin and small nucleoli. Cells having large or spindle nuclei were some-times observed. The tissue sections showed typical findings of paragnglima. The cytological differential diagnoses included islet cell tumor of the pancreas and carcinold tumor. The clinical and histoloigic findings as well as cytologic findings were helpful to confirm the diagnosis.