CASE REPORT   

Chirurgia 2017 April;30(2):73-7

DOI: 10.23736/S0394-9508.16.04615-5

Copyright © 2016 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Chemodectoma: case report

Maurizio FINOCCHIARO ¹, Salvatore BENVEGNA ¹, Nicole FINOCCHIARO ², Massimiliano ALFANO ³, Giuseppe BENVEGNA ² ✉

¹ Unit of Vascular Surgery, Villa Sofia Cervello Hospital, Palermo, Italy; ² Faculty of Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; ³ Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

The nodulus caroticus (carotid body) is a structure located just above the carotid bifurcation. The carotid body tumour is the most common tumour among paragangliomas or chemodectomas, even though the incidence is less than 0.5% of all tumours. The nodulus caroticus tumor can arise at every age, although the majority of patients is between 21 and 78 years old. Moreover, it is not related to gender. Most of these tumors are benign; the percentage of malignity is less than 25%. Symptoms can also express after long time. The patient may report headache, the presence of a lateral neck mass, dizziness, hearing loss, tinnitus, dysphagia, hoarseness, syncope, Bernard-Horner’s syndrome, transient blindness. We report a complex clinical case. The patient may report headache, the presence of a lateral neck mass, dizziness, earring loss, tinnitus, dysphagia, hoarseness, syncope, Bernard-Horner’s syndrome, transient blindness.

KEY WORDS: Carotid body tumor - Surgery - Case reports