Combined endovascular and surgical treatment of carotid body tumor in a patient with thoracic situs solitus

BACKGROUND: Chemodectomas of the head and neck are tumors that originate from the neural crest. The authors report a case of carotid body tumor with chronic hypoxia secondary to congenital cyanogenic cardiac malformation, radiologically and surgically treated. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 37-year-old woman presented 1-year history of a slow-growing right lateral-cervical swelling. Radiologic examination led to a suspicion of carotid body tumor. Her history revealed thoracic situs solitus and a complex congenital heart disease. She was hospitalized for a selective angiography of the cervical vessels. Twenty-four hours later, the tumor was completely removed under local anesthesia. One year later, there were no signs of recurrence, and the patient showed a correct hemodynamic compensation. CONCLUSIONS: The choice of surgical resection with selective preoperative embolization, which induced the obliteration of the feeder vessels, devascularizing the tumor and avoiding significant intraoperative bleeding, was successful. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2008