Carotid body tumors – diagnostis and treatment. Case report

Abstract

Introduction: Glomus tumors are tumors of the paraganglia in the skull base and neck. These paraganglia are named according to their specific location – glomus caroticum, glomus jugular, tympanicum or vagal, thus the tumors are referred to as tumor of glomus caroticum of glomus jugular etc. Carotid body tumors are rare, benign neoplasms, originating from chemoreceptor cells located in the vessel adventitium of the carotid bifurcation. Considering the high risk during the surgical procedure, accurate preoperative diagnosis is of a great importance.
Materials and Methods: We present a clinical case of a 54 y.o. patient Y. G. The patient is diagnosed with a glomus caroticum tumor in the left, found intraoperatively, followed by multidisciplinary treatment approach.
Results: The patient Y. G. 54 y.o. is hospitalized in Ear, Nose and Throat department, "St. George" University Hospital – Plovdiv. With complaints as follows: painless swelling in the left region of the neck, with soft-elastic consistency. After a CT examination, the patient undergoes a surgical procedure, during which, together with a team of vascular surgeons, a glomus caroticus tumor is found. Tumor resection is not done. MRT-angiography is made and a decision for placing a coil implant is taken. After placing the coil implant in the region of the internal carotid artery, the patient is followed; for a period of 6 months the tumor is with reduced size, no postoperative complications are observed.
Conclusion: Diagnostic and treatment a of carotid body tumors acquires multidisciplinary approach and assessment of the risks and benefits of surgical intervention. The use of Shamblin classification has its important clinical meaning regarding the decision for undeertaking surgical intervention. There are contradictory opinions regarding the embolization of glomus caroticus tumor, never the less in Shamblin III the risk of resectiong and reconstructing the carotid artery is much more considerable.